


A New Chance

by Frecktacular



Category: Impractical Jokers
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-03-13 11:25:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 68,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13569594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frecktacular/pseuds/Frecktacular
Summary: Bella Larkin had grown up on Staten Island and lived there for most of her life. Back in her High School years she'd had three very close friends, Sal, Murr, and Joe. Her three friends happened to have another friend, Brian "Q" Quinn, a man she could never quite get along with. After high school, Bella grew apart from her three friends and Brian, but after a phone call from an old friend she decides to give their friendship another chance, and possibly something more with Brian Quinn.





	1. Chapter 1

Bella tapped her fingers on the wooden desk that her book sat on as her eyes wandered over the words almost lazily. She let out a sigh through her nose, she knew she had better things to do than to read but she just couldn't bring herself to get up and do any of them at the moment. Finally her book had ended and she was forced to get up to return it to the shelf. She let her fingers skim over the spines of several other books that she owned, debating whether or not she should start a new one or get on to actual work, until her eyes landed on something with a much slimmer, and longer, spine.

Pulling it off the shelf, Bella realized that it was her senior yearbook, from when she went to Moore Catholic High School, but their yearbook was shared with their neighboring all boys high school. All thoughts of doing real work vanished as she pulled the slim book off her shelf and made her way back towards her comfortable seat.

She flipped through the pages of the underclassmen pictures rather quickly, only recognizing a select few of the names, and paused when she reached her classes senior pictures.

Although it had been quite some time, Bella hadn't changed all that much. Her hair, although shorter now, maintained it's chestnut brown color, and even though classes covered her eyes they still popped out, being bright blue. Facially she hadn't changed much, her features had just matured, but she thought that she was very recognisable from her high school years.

As her eyes skimmed over the page, not looking at the rest of her old classmates yet, she noticed at the bottom of the last page of senior pictures there was a small candid shots, featuring her and four other.

Of course she recognized the people in the picture with her immediately, they were her best friends in high school. Sal Vulcano, Joe Gatto, and James Murray, of course there was Brian Quinn and well, but sad to say the two of them never could get along all that well. However in this picture it looked like the group was having a grand old time, all of their faces graced with huge smiled. Despite the five of them going to different schools, the two schools frequently combined for events, and the boys quickly befriended Bella until she seemed to be a part of their little ‘crew.’ But Bella never did actually know how she fell apart from them, she supposed it was her going away to college, she went out of state for the four years, and at first the friends would find time to visit each other and participate in various antics, but eventually the novelty wore off and they stopped seeing each other so much and one day the contract never picked up again. Bella didn't mind, she had plenty of friends, but none quite like them.

She went back to the senior pictures, looking at Sal first, or Salvatore as his picture stated. She and Sal had always been the closest of friends back in high school, people would often ask them if they were a couple, but no they were just two, flirty, friends. He looked exactly as she remembered him looking, and she smiled as she looked at his picture, finding herself missing her old friend. Quickly, she moved backwards in the yearbook to find James's picture, or Murray as everyone preferred. She couldn't help but wonder if he still preferred Murr or if he went by James now. He was always very nice to Bella, a true gentleman. Soon enough her eyes moved on to look at Joe's picture. He was always the goofiest of the crew, and could make Bella laugh even when she didn't want to!

She smiled at the memories of her friends, she even thought about contacting them for a bit, but those thoughts were interrupted when she finally looked at Brian Quinn's picture. He was strange to her. The two of them really could never find a common ground to get along with, they could constantly bicker, about everything! It was almost like Sal and Murr but their bickering was all in good fun, where Bella's and Q's was intolerable!

She snapped the book shut and quickly put it back on the shelf, the high school chapter of her life was well over now. She went through college, she has a good job now, she even has a cat, it's all she could ask for!

Bella decided she'd had enough reminiscing and quickly flipped open her laptop, logging onto her email and getting back to her work, leaving the memories of the past in the back of her mind.

 

* * *

 

It had been a good three weeks since Bella had found her old yearbook, and her life hadn't changed since, old memories forgotten once more.

She walked through the front door to her apartment, throwing her coat onto it's hook and her keys onto the table next to the door, it had been a long day at work! Being a travel agent isn't all it's cracked up to be, it's some hard, hard work sometimes, and today happened to be one of those days.

Bella slumped over towards her couch and plopped herself down on it, reaching for the remote and turning her television onto a random channel. She crossed her legs underneath her body and prepared to find something on television when her cat, Felix, jumped up on her lap, demanding attention. Felix was a stray that she'd rescued after hurricane Sandy, and the two had been inseparable ever since! Felix started to rub his head on Bella's arm, pulling her attention away from the commercial and to her furry companion. “Hey there bud, what did you do all day?” She muttered, scratching him being his ears as he settled himself into her lap.

Bella's free hand went back to her remote to put on one of her shows when she was suddenly distracted by a familiar face that popped up on the screen in front of her. Joe Gatto’s face was beaming down at her, before he laughed hysterically. Then came a shot of Murray and Q laughing too, and finally Sal literally falling on the ground from laughing so hard! Bella was shocked, what was going on?

Continuing on with the commercial she realized that the group had a television show, one called ‘Impractical Jokers’ which left her gaping. Of course they were still making people laugh, it was what they did all throughout high school so why should that change? She smiled, happy for her old friends success, making a mental note to check out the show when it came on.

Finally, Bella changed the channel so that she could watch Friends, some mindless entertainment was what she needed at the moment.

That was when her phone buzzed.

Without thinking, Bella picked up her phone, and in an instant her eyes widened to the size of saucers. On her screen was a text from someone she thought that she wouldn’t speak to in a while!

_Sender: Sal Vulcano  
_ _Hey Bella, I know it’s been some time…. Well a lot of time I suppose, but I’ve been thinking about you lately. Wanted to know if you wanted to catch up? Maybe get some drinks? -Sal_

Bella couldn’t help but smile, what a strange coincidence that Sal happened to text her now, when she thought that they had completely forgotten about her.

_Sender: Bella  
_ _Hey Sal! I’d love to catch up, drinks work for me! Tomorrow at 7? Know any good places? -Bella_

_Sender: Sal Vulcano  
_ _6 Works! I know a place on the corner of Hyatt Street, Jimmie Steiny’s, meet there? Also do you mind if the rest of the guys come, I haven’t asked them about it yet but I’m sure they’d all want to catch up too!_

Bella was sure by ‘the rest of the guys’ he meant Joe, Murr, and Q, but she couldn’t imagine Brian was all that ecstatic to meet up with her, however if she could see Murr and Joe she would be thrilled!

_Sender: Bella  
_ _Perfect! And I’d love to see the guys, please invite them!_

_Sender: Sal Vulcano  
_ _See you tomorrow then, Bells!_

_Sender: Bella  
_ _See ya Sal!_

Bella smiled as she put her phone down on the table next to her, she’d be getting to see her old best friends in less than 24 hours! She couldn’t wait to catch up with all of them, and she was positive it wouldn’t be awkward either, back in high school she had natural chemistry with the guys, it was going to be the highlight of her week!

On that note, Bella pulled Felix back up to her chest and snuggled into the corner of her couch, Felix purring softly as he rubbed his head against her neck.

Before Bella knew what was happening, she’d fallen asleep on her couch, everything else forgotten.


	2. Chapter 2

Bella woke up to her phone buzzing loudly on the table next to her, she groaned as she sat up, her neck feeling slightly uncomfortable from how she slept. Blindly, she managed to grab her phone and answered it so it would stop buzzing.

“Hello?” She asked, groggily. 

“Oh my gosh, sorry Bella, did I wake you up?” Immediately, Bella recognized the voice of her closest friend Olivia.

Bella sat up, causing Felix to fall off her lap, which he gave an irritated meow in response. “No, no, you’re all good, I needed to get up anyways. What’s up?” She asked, getting to her feet and heading into her kitchen to make breakfast.

“Nothing really, just wanted to know if you wanted to go out to dinner tonight? Maybe come over for wine afterwards?” Olivia asked as Bella almost tripped over Felix who was tangling himself around her legs.

She hissed as she almost fell before pulling out her frying pan, she was about to accept Olivia’s offer, when her conversation with Sal hit her again. “Sorry Olivia, I can’t tonight, I’m meeting up with some old friends from way back. I’ve probably told you about them, Sal, Joe, and Murray? Sal asked me if I wanted to join them for some drinks. Maybe we can do something tomorrow?” Bella asked, cracking two eggs and throwing them into the pan.

“Not a problem, I can’t do tomorrow but I’ll call you soon and we’ll find another time to do it! I hope you have a great time with them, let me know how it goes. I’ll talk to you later Bella!” Olivia said enthusiastically before hanging up the line, leaving Bella to work on her meal.

After that, her day went by rather quickly and she was ready for her evening with her old friends soon enough.

Bella got dressed in a nice black playsuit and wore matching black heels, she’d heard of the place Sal suggested and knew that it was a pretty classy place, so she made sure to dress up a little bit. Her hair was in a simple half updo and she had put some light makeup on, since they were in a bar she knew that the lights would be dimmed and it wouldn’t matter too much what she looked like.

Ten minutes before 7 she caught a cab from her apartment and started towards the bar. On the drive there, Bella heard her phone ring, and she opened it up to see a message from Sal.

_Sender: Sal Vulcano_

             _Hey Bella, me and the guys just got here, we grabbed a table near the back!_

_Sender: Bella_

_Great, I’ll be there in 5!_

Bella watched from the window as the bar came into view and she quickly stumbled out of the car, throwing some cash to her driver before heading into the bar. It was pretty quite inside, probably because it was only 7 and all the rowdier people wouldn’t come until a little bit later.

She walked towards the back of the bar area, where it got even quieter and the lights were a little bit brighter before her eyes landed on a table with four men and one empty seat.

Bella started to walk over and opened her mouth to greet them, when someone beat her to it, Murray’s eye shot up to see her walking over towards their table and a huge smile lit up his face. “Bella!” He exclaimed, jumping out of his seat and running up towards her to pull her into a big hug.

She couldn’t help but laugh as Murray wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly, he was still just as energetic as she remembered him, when he pulled away she noticed the rest of the guys were staring at her, getting up out of their seats to greet her, one a bit more hesitant than the most.

“Hey James, it’s great to see you!” She greeted, before being swept up into another hug, this time she recognized it to be Joe that was hugging her tightly.

“Bella, it’s been too long!” He exclaimed, pulling back from their hug before she was greeted by another one of the guys.

She was engulfed by a man in a black button down shirt, who she immediately knew it was Sal from his exclamation of “Bells!”

Bella couldn’t help but laugh at his enthusiasm and she tried to return it in the same way, “Sally!” She greeted, the old nickname she used to have for him resurfacing immediately, it was like they had never been separated.

Before Sal released her he planted his lips onto the side of her face, leaving her a light smooch on the cheek, and making Bella laugh.

Finally when Sal pulled away from her she was left to greet Q, she was rather surprised that he came to see her, but he probably was just there to hang out with his friends a for a little bit longer. After a moment’s hesitation, Q extended his arm to her and she responded by placing her hand in his much larger one. When she placed her hand in his, he immediately clenched his fingers around hers in a tight hold. “Bella,” Q greeted, a small smile on his face.

“Hi Brian,” Bella responded, moving to pull her hand away but he was holding onto hers really tightly.

He was staring at her rather intensely, which made Bella feel unsettled, “You look great,” He said, her hand still tightly encased in his.

“Thanks, you look well yourself,” She responded politely, feeling rather awkward with her arm still extended. Bella moved to pull her hand away once more, and this time he let her go after a moment’s hesitation.

Then she was pulled towards the table by Sal, “Come on, sit down, let’s catch up!” He exclaimed, pulling her into the booth so she was sitting in between him and Joe, sitting across from Murray and Q.

“What have you been up to Bella?” Joe asked, taking a sip out of his glass of water.

Bella smiled, “Well, after college I got a really good job at a travel agency, and I’ve been a travel agent ever since actually. I still live in the area, Staten Island has always been good to me, but for a while I moved to Brooklyn, moved back to Staten Island about 5 years ago and I’m planning on staying this time,” Bella tried to recall anything interesting about her life that she could tell them, but she didn’t have a family, wasn’t in a relationship, unless you counted her cat, her life was pretty basic. “That’s about it, really, not much is going on at the moment.” She said with a small laugh, after all, their lives were the most exciting things, being on a tv show and all!

“That can’t be all you’ve done, come on Bells, you’ve gotta catch us up!” Murray said, with a large smile.

She smiled and waved her hand in a dismissive manner, “Please, my life really isn’t all that interesting, but being a travel agent _does_ have its perks, I do find myself traveling a lot,” Bella said, reminiscing slightly on her favorite trips. “But really nothing much is going on for me at the moment, I don’t have any trips planned right now, it’s just my cat and I at the moment,” She saw Q perk up at the mention of her cat and wondered if he had any himself, since he was the one she knew the least about, “But I want to hear about you guys, I mean you’ve got a television show for crying out loud!”

Joe’s eyes widened, “You know about the show? Is that why you came here then, to exploit our newfound fame?!” He demanded.

Bella was taken aback for a moment by the man’s sudden change of tone, but when the three other guys around her started to crack up laughing, she did as well, finding he still had the same sense of humor that he did back in high school.

“I can’t believe you caught onto me!” She laughed back, before sobering up, “Actually, yesterday when Sal contacted me was the first time I’d heard about your show, I saw a commercial, I was planning on watching it soon, that is, if you’d recommend it,” She said with a small wink towards Joe.

Sal was the next to make a joke at Bella’s expense, “So you haven’t even bothered to watch our show yet? That is so inconsiderate!” He gasped, falling sideways onto Bella’s side.

She teasingly pushed him off of her, laughing lightly. “I didn’t even know about it, it’s not _my_ fault none of you told me about it! That’s why I’m asking about it now,” She laughed, giving each one of them an accusatory look, before finally her eyes locked with Q’s.

He was staring right at her, his dark brown eyes boring into her blue ones, rather intensely. Neither of them said anything in this quick exchange, in fact, as soon as Bella realized he was staring at her, she quickly turned her head away, although it felt like they were staring at each other for hours.

Murr quickly stood up, shocking Bella for a second before she reoriented herself, “I’m going to grab us some drinks,” Murray said, bouncing up and down on his toes, “Anyone else want anything?”

Sal perked up, leaning forward slightly so he could see Murray around Bella, “I’ll just have a Margarita,” He ordered.

Immediately, Murr started to giggle, “Dude, no matter how many times you order a Margarita, I’ll never get over how funny it is,” He laughed, to which everyone joined in.

“I’ll just have a beer, thanks,” Bella asked, still laughing slightly at Murr’s comment.

Q spoke almost the exact same time as Bella did, “Beer for me, Murr,” He said, his gaze immediately falling back on Bella when he was done talking.

Bella also realized that Joe hadn’t said anything about the drink he wanted, and Murray was staring at him as well before Joe spoke up again, “What’re you doing smartass, you know I don’t drink,” Joe laughed.

“Oh, right!” Murray practically shouted before scurrying off to go grab their drinks.

Bella couldn’t help but smirk, “You don’t drink, huh, Joe? So a lot more than I thought has changed since high school!” From what she could remember Joe was quite the drinker back in their day.

“What can I say, I don’t like to drink anymore,” Joe said, taking a sip out of his glass of water.

In the next second Murr was back with four drinks balanced within his hold before he passed them out respectively.

Bella took a quick sip of her beer before getting back to her previous question, “All right, now you guys have to tell me about your show, how did that happen?” She asked excitedly, clasping her hands around her drink.

“That’s some story, Bells,” Joe said, setting down his glass. “Well, after LIU, I got my undergraduate degree in accounting before reconnecting with they guys,” He told her.

“Yeah, when I got out of school I internshipped with Kevin Smith’s company for a couple of years, I host one of his podcasts ‘Tell ‘em Steve-Dave’ then when I stopped working there, I joined the FDNY-” Q spoke up, sounding almost like he was gloating before Murray cut him off.

Murray pushed him to the side, “We get it Q, you’re so accomplished and proud,” Murray mocked him, to which the other guys laughed.

Bella noticed that Q looked somewhat put off after that, but he played it off pretty well, so she decided to ignore him.

“After I graduated college with a BA in English I made a movie-” Murr began to which Q was able to get him back.

Q shoved Murray back over, “Yeah, your movie about modern teenage Jesus, really got the fans hooked, it’s a wonder Bella hadn’t heard of anything we’d done yet,” He teased to which Sal laughed and Bella couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle.

When Bella laughed, Q’s eyes shot back towards her, and she immediately sobered up, she didn’t know what it was about him that was unnerving her, maybe it was the fact that the two of them had never been the closest of people, and now trying to reconnect like they were really good friends was just making things weird? She didn’t know what it was, but Q clearly didn’t seem to care as his gaze didn’t waver.

“It was a good movie, okay?” Murray exclaimed, snapping Bella out of her stupor, “As I was saying, I worked at a production company for a while too,” He finished.

Sal was the last to tell her a little bit about his story and he took a quick sip of his Margarita before speaking, “After college I kept doing comedy-” Sal started, only to be cut off by Joe.

“Yeah, but only _you_ called it comedy,” He laughed, causing Sal’s cheeks to turn a light pink color.

Sal shot Joe a glare before continuing, “Cut it out, I kept doing comedy, and then one day Murr and I ran into each other on the Staten Island Ferry before we decided to hook up again and start to make comedy sketches. We got Joe on board soon enough and another one of our friends Mike Boccio to do some live sketches with us for a while,” Sal began.

Murr picked up the story now, “We did live comedy sketches for several years, we started in 1999… i think and up until 2007 we did live stuff, but in 2007, we got Q on board and Mike left, and we started to do filmed sketches, which we decided that we liked a lot more.” Murr told her, before of the other guys picked up where he left off.

“We started a youtube channel back in 2007 and started posting our skits to the channel,” Joe explained to her, “And after a couple of years we won a competition with one of our sketches on NBC’s It’s Your Show, grand prize of $100,000, baby!” Joe gloated, winking at Bella.

“Then, in April of 2011, TruTV announced our show, which was originally called ‘Mission: Uncomfortable’ which we sooned changed to the name ‘Impractical Jokers’. When we first presented our show, Sal and I had filmed it on our phones, so it wasn’t the best quality, but for some reason the network loved it and we’re starting filming our third season in a week,” Q finished.

Bella was shocked, they had such a cool story, if took them forever to get to where they were but it was so inspiring that they were a comedy troupe for so long before they finally got their show!

“That’s pretty much it,” Sal said, taking another sip of his margarita.

She smiled, “That is so awesome, I’m so happy for you all,” Bella laughed, “Now I guess I really need to watch the show!”  

Suddenly, the music throughout the bar was turned up, and they had to start speaking a little bit louder. Bella also noticed that it had gotten a little bit more crowded in the area, not too much since they were in the back, but it was probably very crowded up front. And that’s when Bella realized that her drink was empty.

“I’m going to go grab some more drinks, anyone need anything else?” She asked, moving to get out of the booth that Murray kept her blocked in.

Murray got up to let Bella up and she quickly scooted out of the booth, ready to head up towards the bar. “I’m good,” Sal said, holding up his half empty Margarita.

 “Yeah me too,” Murray said, sitting back down on his seat.

Joe did hold up his glass to her, “Wanna grab me another glass, sweetheart?” He asked, passing over his empty glass.

“Sure thing,” Bella agreed, looking towards Q to see if he wanted anything, but oddly enough he said nothing, didn’t even bother looking at her, his eyes were now trained on his beer bottle. “I’ll be right back,” She said before slipping into the crowd to get to the bar.

Bella pushed her way through the dance floor before ending up at the bar, waiting patiently for the bartender to come her way, which he did fast enough.

“Hey there pretty lady, what can I get you,” The bartender asked, shooting her a wink as he did so.

Bella smiled back politely, sure he was a cute guy, but she wasn’t here tonight looking to flirt with any strangers, maybe she’d stop back another night. “Can I have another beer please, and a fill up on this glass of water?” She asked, passing over Joe’s glass.

The bartender grabbed the glass and filled it up with ease, “Sure thing, sweetheart,” He flirted, passing her back Joe’s glass before grabbing her a cold beer from behind him. “What brings you here tonight?” He asked, not handing her beer to her quite yet, leaving Bella to figure out what he was doing.

“I’m just here with a couple of friends, catching up,” She told him, reaching her hand out a bit to signal that she wanted her drink.

He grinned, “Well if you feel like taking a couple of trip back up here you won’t hear me complaining, darling. I’m Stephan, by the way, nice to meet cha,” He greeted, extending the hand that didn’t hold her beer out, so that they could shake hands.

Wanting to be polite, Bella grabbed her hand in his, “Bella,” She said back in response.

Without letting go of her hand, Stephan kept talking, “Drink’s on me this time, Bella, only if you promise to come back,” He said, and it felt like he was going to release her hand finally before she felt a tall presence pull up behind her.

Bella felt someone’s front come in close contact with her back, before she heard a familiar deep voice start to speak, “One beer for me,” He said before slamming an empty beer bottle down on the bar.

Bella’s hand was immediately released and the bartender passed her beer over before grabbing another one for Q, who was still standing very close behind her. “There you go, man,” Stephen said, sliding the beer over towards Q.

“Bri-?” Bella began to question before Q’s arm came up from behind her and circled around her shoulders, pulling her body even closer to his.

The bartender looked taken aback, “Bella, do you know this guy?” He asked, clearly able to tell that she was uncomfortable, but not because she thought he would do anything, but because this was really unexpected of his character.

She opened her mouth to speak when Q beat her to it, “Yeah, she does, she’s here with _me_ tonight,” He said, his voice coming out in a growl. Then, before anyone could say anything else, Q picked up both their beers in one hand, and steered Bella away from the bar and around the dance floor.

Before the two of them got back to their table, Bella regained her senses and slipped out from underneath Q’s arm, Joe’s glass of water spilling by her feet slightly. “What the hell was that?” She demanded, being forced to speak rather loudly due to the loud noise that was surrounding the two of them.

Q turned back to face her, looking a little bit confused, “What are you talking about?” He asked, looking like he was going to reach for her again.

“I was fine, you know, I don’t need you to do that for me,” Bella said, feeling slightly annoyed about the whole situation.

Q took a step towards her, looking slightly intimidating. “I didn’t do anything,” He claimed, walking towards her.

Bella took a breath in through her nose, not wanting to deal with this at the moment, maybe he really didn’t realize he did anything wrong, besides, they weren’t in high school anymore. “Alright, sorry, let’s just get back before the guys come looking,” She said, walking around Q and continuing on around the dance floor. 

Q followed closely behind her, but she figured it was just because it was easier for him to cut through the crowd following behind someone else, what she didn’t see was him shoot a dark look at anyone who would stare at her for more than a couple of seconds, keeping most of the men away from the two of them until they made it back to their table.

“Here you go, Joe,” Bella chirped, setting down his glass in front of him before regaining her seat between Murr and Sal.

Joe smiled and thanked her for the drink as Q sat down, “And look at that, you found Q, did he get caught on the dance floor?” He asked.

Sal snorted, “Probably looked like a deer in headlights out there,” He said, making the whole table laugh again.

Q slid Bella’s beer over to her, which she almost forgot that he carried over here, and she immediately took a drink out of it. “So, what are you guys up to besides from your show?” She asked, finding that conversation is coming pretty naturally, just as it used to.

“Actually, I’m married,” Joe said, flashing her the thick gold wedding band wrapped around his ring finger. “Got married in September to my wife, her name’s Bessy.”

Bella couldn’t help but gasp, “Joe, that’s so exciting! I’m so happy for you,” She smiled, feeling really happy for her old friend, of course he was married, he was always a sweet guy.

He smiled and raised his glass in response to her, “Thanks Bells,” He said, sipping on his water again.

The night seemed to go pretty quickly, all of them chatting and joking around just like they used to, Bella was having an absolutely grand time, sure it could’ve been because of the alcohol, but she really did enjoy their company just as much as she used to.

When she was almost done with her second beer, she started to feel a little heavy headed, but it looked like both Murr and Sal were starting to get a little bit tipsy too, so when Q offered to grab them more drinks, Bella didn’t decline another beer.

Halfway through her third beer was when she was really feeling the alcohol hit her, and from what she could tell, Murr was getting up there with her. Suddenly a familiar song came on and Murray jumped up from his seat. “I love this song!” He cried out, making Sal laugh. “Bella,” Murr drawed out, “Come dance with me!” Murray started to pull on Bella’s arm, trying to get her out of the seat.

She was having a good time, and she knew Murr was very respectful, so it didn’t take long for him to convince her to get up on the dancefloor with him.

The two of them walked out to the floor, still in view of their table towards the back and started to dance, just having a good time. Murr would spin her around in circles before hugging her and letting her dance on her own again every once in a while, he was really out of it and just enjoying himself, making Bella laugh.

Murray spun her in a circle once more before letting her go, for her to turn only to see their table, with Q staring right at her, his hand clenched tightly around his bottle. Joe was nowhere to be seen, and Sal was just walking away from the table towards the bar, leaving her only Q to look at.

Before she knew what was happening, Q was standing up and approaching the two dancers, walking at a rather brisk pace. “Hey, Murr,” Q called out as he came to stand very close to Bella, “Why don’t you come back to the table, bud, you’re looking a little red,” Q wasn’t lying, Murr did look red, but he looked red by his first drink!

Murray, however, seemed to agree with Q, “A-alright, I am feeling a little dizzy,” He said, stumbling forward to meet Q and Bella, “Come on, Bells,” Murray said, starting back towards their table.

Q and Bella both hesitated, she didn’t want to stop dancing, she was having a good time with Murray. Q made the first move, “Come on, Bell,” He said, casually using a nickname for her, he started forward like he was going to grab her arm when she jerked backwards, clearly uncomfortable.

She stumbled backwards slightly, her feet tripping her up as her head spun a little bit, “Woah, woah, woah, careful there,” Q warned, trying to catch her by the waist. One of his arms snuck itself around her waist and steadied her against his body, holding her tightly.

“Brian, let go of me, I’m _fine_ , I was having a good time dancing with Murray” She mumbled, pushing at his arm, but he wasn’t moving.

He didn’t let go of her though, “Well if you want to dance I’ll dance with you, just a heads up though, I have _no_ rhythm,” Q offered, shrugging his shoulders, he stepped closer to her, his arm coming further around her so that his hand was curled tightly into her side, waiting for her decision.

Bella was about to berate him when suddenly, Sal was walking towards them, glass of water in hand. Quickly, Q let go of her waist and took a step away from her. “Bella, you feeling alright? I grabbed you a glass of water, you were looking a little tired,” He said, passing her the glass.

Gratefully, Bella grabbed the glass of water from Sal and gulped down a sip, moving closer to Sal as she did so. “Thank you, Sally,” She slurred, grabbing onto his arm to steady herself.

Sal was quick to put his arm where Q’s was not but a moment ago to help her keep her balance. “Anytime,sunshine, let’s get you back to the table, huh?” He asked, helping her back towards their booth.

Bella was glad to be latched onto Sal, he felt safe to her, he pulled her into the booth, where Murr was standing, and sat down on the outside of her. Murr was giggling at something Joe must’ve just said and none of them even noticed as Q sulked back to the table, his chair scraping across the floor as he sat down in it.

“Alright guys, I think I’m going to have to head out for the night, the wife’s going to be waiting for me,” Joe said, taking a small sip out of his glass. “I’ll be taking Murr with me too, don’t trust him to be able to get home by himself,” He said, standing up and clasping Murray on the shoulder with his hand.

The other guys were quick to get up and hug the other two goodbye, Bella following suit, wrapping her arms around both men and exchanging a few words, she ended up giving her number to both of the men, and then they left, Joe pulling Murray alongside him.

Sal clapped his hands together once the other two were gone, “Yeah I’d better head out too, I’ve got a meeting to go to tomorrow morning,” Sal said, pulling out his phone to most likely call a ride, “Do you have a ride, Bells?” Sal asked.

She shook her head, feeling slightly better now that she’d had a drink of water, “I’m just going to catch a cab outside, I’ll walk out with you,” Bella said, taking one more sip of water before feeling like she was ready to go.

“Sounds good, Q, I’ll see you later, man,” Sal went in to hug Q, but Q was quick to cut him off.

“I’ll just walk out with the both of you, I don’t really feel like drinking anymore tonight,” Q said, patting Sal on the back.

The three of them started out the front door, Sal’s ride was waiting there for them when the reached the outdoors, and Bella was happy that she remembered to grab a jacket as they stepped out into the cold air. Sal turned to face Q and Bella, to say his goodbyes.

“See you later Q, filming starts in one week!” Sal exclaimed, excitedly. Although he wasn’t intoxicated like Murr and Bella were, he was on the edge, more so than Q and Joe were. The two men hugged, Q patting Sal on the back as he did so before Sal turned to Bella.

Bella enthusiastically hugged Sal, “Thanks for inviting me out tonight Sally, I missed you a lot,” She said, still hugging the man.

She could feel Sal smile on top of her head, “I missed you too, Bells. I’ll be in touch, for sure, we’ve still got a lot of years to make up for,” He said before kissing the top of her head and letting her go, “Goodnight!” Sal called as he walked over to the car that was waiting for him, leaving her and Q alone again.

“Goodnight, Brian, it was good to see you,” Bella said, planning on walking towards the street to try and hail a cab along the crowded sidewalk.

However, before she could get too far, Q stopped her, “Bella, wait up a second, I could give you a ride home, if you’d like?” He asked, looking almost bashful.

She furrowed her brow, “You had two beers though, you can’t drive,” Bella said, barely looking at him and keeping her eyes peeled for oncoming taxis.

Q shook his head, “No, I gave Sal the second one, I only had one drink the whole night, and I was nursing it, too,” He confessed, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Bella was hesitant, but upon seeing the taxi-free street she sighed and decided that going with him would be her best option to get home as soon as possible. “Alright, fine,” She grumbled, and started to follow him towards wherever he parked his car.

The two of them walked in silence for a little while, before they reached his jeep, “Here she is,” Q announced, he walked towards the passenger side of the car and opened the door for her, his free hand reaching out like he wanted to touch her.

Bella shot a glare towards his hand, freezing it in it’s spot as she climbed into the vehicles, Q shutting the door behind her once she was safely inside, and then quickly climbing into the driver’s seat. “You like music?” Q asked, clicking his seat belt into place.

She nodded, suddenly feeling very sleepy, must be the after effects of the alcohol, the good thing being that her house was only a ten minute drive away. As soon as she nodded her head in agreement the car was filled with Elvis, and Q had to turn down the volume very quickly.

“Sorry about that,” He chuckled, “I didn’t realize I’d be driving anyone home tonight,” Q muttered, “Where do you live?”

Bella gulped, she forgot that she was going to have to tell him that, “On Montgomery Ave, 115,” She told him.

Q nodded and pulled out of the parking lot, headed towards her place. The ride started out rather quietly, and a little bit awkward, but the alcohol was addling Bella’s brain so it didn’t matter much to her.

“So,” Q finally spoke up, “it was really nice to see you Bella,” He said.

She turned her head to look at him, his profile was illuminated by the moonlight, and even she couldn’t deny that he looked pretty good, different than in high school, but Bella could always see that he was an attractive guy. In high school he was clean cut, no beard, his hair was kept short and a little bit messy, and now is hair was nearly down to his shoulders and he had a beard now, he looked rather unkempt, but it worked for him.

Bella felt like she was staring at him forever, but in reality it was only a moment, “Yeah, it was nice to see you too, Brian,” She said after a moment’s hesitation.

He ran a hand through his hair, “I know we never talked too much before, but- uh, we should catch up, just the two of us?” Q asked, sounding rather nervous.

She balked, sure it was years later, but when the two of them were together, things always seemed to go wrong, why would that have changed now? “Yeah, um, maybe,” She agreed, making Q take a peek over at her from the corner of his eye.

Brian sighed as he pulled over on her curb, “Alright, well how about I give you my number then?” He asked, hopefully.

Not having the best judgement at the moment, Bella passed her phone over to him, unlocking it so that he could put his name in, she was thankful he was giving her his number and not the other way around so he couldn’t text her whenever he wanted to. Q smiled as he typed something into her phone and then looked down at his. “Thanks, Bell,” He said as he passed her phone back to her, letting his fingers skim over his own, “Oh, I’ll walk you to your door,” Q offered, unbuckling his seat and running over to her side of the car before she could even put her phone back in her purse.

Once again, Q opened the door for her and offered her a hand to help her out of the car, but she ignored his offered hand, finding the whole scenario a little over the top weird. Q pulled his hand away as soon as he realized she wasn’t going for it and instead started to follow close behind her to the door.

The two of them reached the door and Bella turned to tell Q goodnight, but before she knew what was happening she was wrapped up in two big arms, and being squeezed tightly to a warm body, “Bye Hun, I’ll text ya,” Q said, much to Bella’s confusion.

Her arms awkwardly came up around him and hesitantly returned his hug, Q gave her one tight squeeze before letting her go, “Yeah, I’ll talk to you later, it was good to see you,” Bella said and before Q could get another word in, she had swiftly opened her door and walked inside.

Immediately, Bella was greeted by her cat, she picked up him, feeling slightly dizzy when she bent down, and pulled her to her chest. A second later her and Felix were plopped down on her bed, and Bella was sleeping soundly, all thoughts of Brian Quinn’s weird behavior completely erased from her mind.


	3. Chapter 3

The next few days went by rather quickly for Bella, she hadn’t been in contact with any of the guys, even though every one of them, except for Q had her number, but she expected as much, they were all busy in prep for the filming of their new show.

She got to spend some time with Olivia, too, they had went out for coffee the day after, and the two of them caught up a little bit. Bella was able to tell Olivia all about reconnecting with her old friends, and even slipped in a little bit about how strange Q was acting, and Olivia told her about a trip she was planning to go visit her family and Bella was able to give her some tips on the area, accusing Olivia of that being the only reason she wanted to hang out with her. When the two of them finished their coffee they both went their separate ways, and Bella was left to try and get some work done. 

Finally it was Friday and she was very thankful that her work week would be over in 8 hours! She loved her job, she really did, but sometimes, working at the same company for most of her adult career was starting to get a little bit boring. But it was her job, and she was making money and doing well on her own, so who was she to complain! Quickly, Bella got ready to head off to work, and soon enough she was saying a goodbye to Felix and heading out towards her car. 

It took Bella a little over 20 minutes to reach her office, and when she did, she was immediately greeted by her office’s secretary, Tess. “Good morning, Bella,” Tess greeted, with a smile. 

Bella paused at Tess’ desk, she and Tess got along really well, but they never did much outside of work, other than some company retreats and whatnot. “Morning, Tess, everything going okay so far?” She asked. 

Tess glanced over at the phone on her desk, “Everything going well, you’ve got a Mrs. Marina Catala on the line though, I told her you’d be in any minute,” Tess told her. 

“Thanks, Tess, I’d better go grab that,” Bella said, starting in towards her office, opening the door, throwing her coat on the hanger and swiftly picking up her phone on the desk. “Liberty Travel Travel Agency, this is Isabella Larkin speaking, how can I help you?” She asked, not knowing what it was that Mrs. Catala would be calling for. 

“Hi, Ms. Larkin, this is Marina Catala, I’m calling on behalf of the network TruTV,” Marina introduced, Bella recognized the name of the network, but she couldn’t quite remember where she had heard the name before. 

“Yes, How may I assist you? Are you looking to take a company retreat? Or scout out some locations?” She asked, wondering what they might be needing from her, since she rarely gets calls regarding businesses. 

“Neither, actually, Ms. Larkin, I am calling in regards to a job with the network, one of our more popular shows is searching for a new locations manager, and you were recommended specifically,” Marina told her, making Bella even more curious as to what was going on, but she waited patiently for her to continue. “The production you would be working with is called ‘Impractical Jokers’ I’m sure you’ve heard of it, being that Mr. Vulcano was the one who specifically recommended you. He said that you would be perfect for the job, that you were a top travel agent, with the best reviews, and Mr. Vulcano has been an on set producer for many shows, and we trust his judgement on the subject. If you accept the position you’d be working alongside a small team of production managers, and we’d like to take you on as head of the team, your salary would be discussed at a later date, but I can assure you it would match the amount you are making now, or possibly then some. Any questions? Thoughts?” Marina said, getting it all out at once. 

Bella was speechless for a moment, she couldn’t believe that Sal would do that for her! She swallowed quickly before trusting herself to speak, “Ms. Catala, there is only a few questions that I have regarding the proposition for a job, after, of course, I finish up a few things with Liberty Travel,  _ if  _ I do decide to take the job. First, if I take the job, when would I be starting? Second, what would the hours be? Third, would this be a permanent position, and what kind of loyalties would I get?” She inquired. 

Marina was able to respond immediately, “If you choose to accept, you’d start right away, we start filming this Tuesday and our team has already scouted locations for the first few episodes but as we get further into filming we’ll need an extra mind on the job. The hours would be however long we are filming that day, being the head coordinator, we’d request that you be there on location at all times, but filming is flexible, you and the other location producers decide when and where we’ll be filming, on top of some office time of course. And the job is as permanent as possible, since it is a television show it could be cancelled at any moment, but we have high hopes for the show and think it could go well past this third season. As for your loyalties and benefits, full health care and insurance coverage, you’ll be all set,” Marina let her know while Bella sloppily jotted it all down. “So what do you say?” 

She wasn’t quite sure if she should make this decision so impulsively, she’d never done anything so impulsively! “I’d like to thank you profusely for the offer, but this is all very abrupt, may I call you back at the end of the day with my decision?” Bella inquired. 

“Of course, my number is 555-3257, extension 23, I look forward to hearing from you with hopefully good news,” Marina said, “Have a good day Ms. Larkin,” 

“You as well, Mrs. Catala,” Bella finished before they both hung up. 

Bella let out a deep sigh, a smile coming across her face. Without a second though, she whipped out her phone and started a text to ‘Mr. Vulcano’ himself. ‘

_ Sender: Bella _

_             Hey Sal, I just got some good news, got any lunch plans?  _

Not a minute later she was graced with a response. 

_ Sender: Sal Vulcano _

_             My only plans are the ones I’m making with you! Can’t wait to hear the good news ;) Wanna meet at Trattoria Romana? The Italian place in Dongan hills.  _

_ Sender: Bella _

_             Oh I can only imagine you can’t wait, that’ll be perfect! Around 1?  _

_ Sender: Sal Vulcano _

_              I’ll see you there!  _

Bella couldn’t help but smile, she missed Sal, he was too sweet, they all were sweet, and now she could be working with them. Well, maybe they would be, she was going to have to talk to Sal to see how he felt about the whole thing, sure he recommended her, but she still wanted to hear what he had to say about TruTV in person. 

The time before lunch went by pretty quickly, and soon enough Bella was in her car on her way to Trattoria Romana. She got there in no time, traffic not being that bad, and soon enough she was in the restaurant looking for Sal. 

He spotted her before she spotted him, he was sitting at a booth in the front of the restaurant, waving happily in her direction. She smiled as she walked over to where he was sitting, hugging him as a greeting, “Hey Sally,” She said, as she sat down across from the bigger man. 

He reclaimed his seat after their hug and shot her a wide smile, “Hey Bells,” He grinned, “So,” he began, not waiting for her to bring it up herself, “What’s the good news?” 

Sal was grinning widely now, obviously he knew what the news was or he wouldn’t look as crazy happy as he did at the moment, but she decided to play along. “Well, I got a call today from some television company, TruTV, you might’ve heard of it?” She giggled. 

Sal was quick to shoot her a wink, “You know I have, what did this company have to say?” He asked, grinning even larger if it were possible. 

“Well, they offered me a job, as a location manager,” She paused, a sly grin coming to her face, “They told me that a Mr.  _ James Murray _ had specifically recommended me. 

The grin on Sal’s face was wiped off immediately, “What?” He exclaimed, his eyes bugging out. 

Bella couldn’t even contain her laughter, “I’m just joking Sal, they told me if was you, thank you, sincerely, thank you,” She said, happily, watching as Sal’s upset look turned into a small frown. 

“You really got me there, I was going to say if that little  _ ferret- _ ” Bella was quick to cut off Sal’s insults with a laugh, “Alright, maybe I’m over exaggerating but you didn’t have to go and say Murray, of all people!” Sal laughed. “And you’re welcome, but it wasn’t just my idea.” 

Bella’s eyebrows flew up to her hairline at that, if it wasn’t  _ just  _ Sal then who else could it have been? “Who el-” Bella tried to ask, but this time Sal was quick to cut her off. 

“I’m not going to be the one to tell you, you’re going to have to figure that out yourself. I promised that I could keep quiet,” Sal said with another wink, leaving Bella to wonder who it could’ve been. 

She was about to ask him about the job when their water approached them, “Hello, my name is Jackie, I’ll be your waitress today, can I start you off with anything to drink?” She said rather quickly, pulling out a pad of white paper. 

“I’ll just have water with a lemon,” Sal ordered, as he began to flip through his menu for the first time. 

“I’ll have diet coke please,” Bella requested. 

The waitress nodded as she wrote down their drinks, “And are you two ready to order or do you need a moment?” She asked, putting the pad of paper into her pocket, clearly already knowing that they were quite ready as Bella picked up her own menu. 

Sal spared the waitress a quick glance, “We’ll need another minute please, thank you,” He said, before his eyes shot down to his menu. 

“Alright, I’ll be right back with those drinks,” Jackie said before heading back towards the kitchen. 

Bella looked through the menu, trying to decide what she wanted, she’d never been to this place before, even though she’d lived on Staten Island for all her life, she still hasn’t been all over it yet! “What do you recommend?” She asked, looking up at Sal. 

“Their pizza is the best thing on the menu, want to split a margarita pizza?” He asked, his eyes still skimming the menu to make sure he didn’t miss anything. 

Bella closed her menu, “Sounds great,” She agreed. 

At that second the waitress came back with their drinks, “Ready to order?” She inquired. 

Sal picked up Bella’s menu and passed both of their items over to their waitress, “Yes, we’ll have the medium margarita pizza please.” He requested as she took their menus and told them it would be out at soon as possible before leaving the two of them alone once more. 

“Well,” Sal grinned at her once more, “What was your decision?” 

Bella picked at her nails unconsciously, “I haven’t made one yet, I’m calling Marina Catala back by the end of the day to tell her about my final decision, that’s why I wanted to come to lunch with you. I wanted to know if you think it was worth it,” She explained, starting to feel nervous for some reason. 

He sat up a little bit straighter, “Of course I think it’s worth it, I recommended you!” He laughed it off. 

She couldn’t help but laugh, too, Sal had such a contagious laugh, “Yes, I understand that, doof, I wanted you to tell me a little bit about what it’s like working on the show, what’s the crew like? Most importantly, is it a fun job?” She asked, hoping he would help her out by giving her some answers. 

“Alright, I’ll help you out best I can, well the crew is great, they’re all really, really awesome. It’s a very- uh, relaxed atmosphere, so you don’t have to dress up to come to work or anything, you could just roll out of bed if you really wanted to- which I know you don’t,” He shot her another wink, something he seemed to enjoy doing around her, “But it’s a really fun job, or I’m sure your job will be, I mean you’ll still be finding locations for us to go to, just like you do at your current job, but you’ll get to see us make a fool of ourselves while we do it,” Sal laughed, and Bella had to admit, it did sound like a really great job. “Do you think you’ll take the job?” He asked, sobering up and looking at her with hopeful eyes. 

Bella shot him a sly grin, “I might, I guess you’ll have to wait to find out, in the meantime, if you can think of anything else to tell me it would be gratefully appreciated,” She said, taking a sip of her drink. 

Sal scowled at her in response, “You’re a tease, Bells,” He accused. 

That was when their waitress came back, pizza in hand, she was quick to set it on a small rack and serve them both a slice before leaving once more. 

“Alright,” Sal said, “Get ready to taste some of the best pizza you’ll ever have,” Sal exclaimed, waiting to dig into his slice in order to see how she would react to the food. 

Bella picked up her fork and knife and was about to dig into the slice when she was stopped once more by Sal’s flailing hands. “Woah, wait up, you’re not going to eat our pizza like that?” He demanded, looking at the utensils in her hands. 

She shot him a look, “What do you mean? This is the  _ proper _ way to eat food,” She argued back, “You’ve seen me eat pizza before, Sal!”

He reached over as if to take the utensils straight from her hands, but Bella was quick to pull them towards her chest, “Bella, give me those, that’s not how you properly eat Staten Island pizza,” He mocked, trying once more to snag them from her. 

Bella only laughed at his poor attempts to steal the fork and knife from her fingers, “Listen Vulcano, if you want me to try this pizza you’d better let me eat it the way that I want to eat it!” She demanded, still laughing as she did so. 

Finally, the man settled back into his seat, a frown on his face, “Fine, just eat it then,” He demanded once more. 

This time when she went to cut the pizza there was no argument on Sal’s part, he just sat there, grumbling slightly as Bella finally tried the pizza. “Oh my goodness, this is really good, really good, Sal!” She exclaimed. She’d always known that New York had the best pizza in the world, but she would never get over just  _ how  _ good it was. 

Sal smiled, clearly pleased with himself, “Told you!” He seemed to gloat. 

Bella smacked his hand from across the table, “Stop gloating, smartass, it’s not like you made it,” She laughed. 

When she looked up at his face, she could see that he looked shocked, his hand over his heart, other hand still holding his slice of pizza before dramatically dropping it down onto his plate, “I cannot believe you would say that to me. Oh- oh my god, Bells, I- I don’t know how we’re going to go on from here. You- you just called me… a  _ smartass _ ,” He monologued, his hand coming to clutch his shirt. “I don’t even know what I did to deserve that, I-” Bella couldn’t listen to him any longer. 

“Come off it Sal, now you’re  _ really _ being a smartass,” She laughed before eating more of her pizza. Sal laughed as well before finally digging into his slice. 

As their lunch went on, Sal found more things to tell her about the show, and the two of them chatted some more, about what they’ve been up to, Bella talked about some of her favorite trips, Sal talked about some of his favorite shows he’s performed, it was nice. Soon enough though, Bella had to get back to work, and she was going to have to settle some things regarding her future job. 

Sal paid for the pizza, before Bella could object, and both of them left the restaurant, Sal walking her towards her car. “I can’t wait to hear what you’ve got to say about that job opportunity,” He said with a wink, “Hopefully I’ll know sooner rather than later!” 

Bella opened her passenger door and threw her leftovers onto the seat, “Yeah, I’m sure you’ll hear about it, I’d ask Joe, I’m sure he’ll know about it sooner than you,” She grinned, knowing he would get flustered about that. 

“Joe? No way, I’d better be the first to know,” He grumbled, his lips twisting into a frown. 

She couldn’t help but to wrap her arms around Sal, pulling him into a tight hug, “Of course you’ll be the first to know, I promise,” She said, still hugging onto him tightly. 

Immediately Sal hugged her back, squishing her face into his shoulder, much to Bella’s surprise as she gave a little shout. “Agh, Sal, you’re squishing me!” She complained, trying to pull away from his hug. 

Sal quickly slid one of his hands up to cup the back of her head, holding it in place against his shoulder, “What’s what Bells? I can’t hear you,” He teased, as he tried to calm her flailing limbs. 

Thinking quickly, Bella brought her hand up and started to pinch at his side, sending him into a fit of laughter and causing him to let go of her. “There, now we’re even,” She grinned, “I’ll call you tonight, Sally!” Before Sal could even respond, she’d jetted into her car and waved at a stunned Sal before driving off. 

With four hours until the end of her work day, Bella quickly set to sort things out with Liberty Travel, talking to Tess who was more than willing to help her out, and then making a few quick phone calls, too. Lastly, she spoke with her boss regarding the terms of her arrangement, and surprisingly, her boss was on board with her decision, and so she was decided, all that was left was to call back Marina. 

As Marina’s phone rang, Bella couldn’t help but bite her nails, she couldn’t believe that she was making this decision so spontaneously. It felt like forever before Marina finally picked up the phone. 

“Hello, this is Marina Catala, how may I help you?” Her voice rang through the phone. 

Bella almost jumped at the sound of her voice, “Mrs. Catala, this is Isabella Larkin returning your call from earlier this morning,” She greeted in response. 

“Ah, yes, Ms. Larkin, have you come to a decision?” Marina asked. 

She hesitated, this really was all so very sudden, but it was going to be incredibly fun, “Yes, I have actually, I accept the job,” She announced, letting out a breath as her decision was finalized. 

“That’s great news! Everyone will be very happy you decided to join us, you’ll start Tuesday at the latest, if you want to come to a brainstorming session Monday to get your bearings you are more than welcome to join. Whichever day is best for you that’s where we’ll give you your contract and the offer will be finalized. If you’d like I could take down your number and text you the details?” Marina offered. 

“Yes, yes that would be great,” Bella smiled, “My number is 555-6302, feel free to contact me whenever, and we can discuss the details monday?” She asked, knowing that she would be free on monday. 

“That’ll be perfect, thank you so much, Ms. Larkin, I’ll be seeing you soon,” The two of them said their goodbyes and Bella was left smiling. 

Clocking out of her office, for the last time, Bella made it back to her house faster than she ever had before. When she got home she ran up to Felix, pulling him into a big hug, “I’m leaving the office Felix, I got a new job!” She exclaimed. 

Felix let out a loud, frustrated meow, and Bella set him back down carefully and pulled out her phone, she didn’t think she should leave Sal hanging for that much longer. Without wasting another second, she pressed on Sal’s contact, and put the phone up to her ear, waiting for him to pick up. 

The phone barely had to ring once before Sal had picked up the phone, “Heey, Bells!” Sal exclaimed loudly, which made Bella had to pull the phone away from her ear so he wouldn’t make her go deaf! 

“Hey there, Sally,” Bella greeted in response. 

There was a rustle on the other line, and Bella couldn’t help but wonder what was going on, she hoped that she hadn’t interrupted something, but he wouldn’t have answered so fast if he was really  _ that _ busy. “Bells, do you mind if I put you on speaker, I’m with Q right now,” He explained. 

Bella couldn’t help but sigh a little bit, but it’s not like she could say no, “Not at all,” She reluctantly agreed. 

There was a click from the other line and suddenly she could hear Q’s voice through the speakers, “Hey, Bella,” He said, his deep voice resonating through her ears. 

“Hi Brian,” Bella said, politely. 

After a pause, Sal cleared his throat and spoke up again, “Well, Bells, you’ve got some good news?” He asked, like he was goading her on. 

“Yes, actually, I do,” She said, not being able to help the grin that spread over her face, “But I think I’ll save the news for when I see you for filming on Tuesday!” 

There was a moment of silence on the other side of the phone before Sal and Q both started to speak at the same time, leaving Bella to try to discern what they were both saying, but to no avail. 

Finally, Bella was able to hear Sal’s voice through the line, “Bella! That’s incredible, I’m so excited for you! Let me take you out tonight, as a congratulations!” Sal cried out, with Q still mumbling in the back about something. 

“No, you don’t have to take me out, let me take you out, you got me the job, after all!” Bella said with a laugh, Sal was too nice for his own good. 

Sal sounded like he was going to start talking again, when Q spoke up even louder, “Let  _ me _ take you out then, Bella, as a congrats,” He called out. “Since you don’t want Sal to.” 

She paused, not expecting Q to have made an offer to her, “No, Brian, I couldn't let you do that either,” Bella said after a moment’s hesitation. 

Once more on the other line of the phone there was a small scuffle, and Bella swore she could’ve heard someone say something along the lines of ‘you didn’t tell her, did you,’ before the scuffle was gone. 

“Alright,” Sal said, “How about neither of us take you out, but we invite the other guys out to dinner, we can do separate checks, whatever you want, but we’ll all go out to celebrate,” He offered. 

Bella thought about it for a moment, before deciding that no harm could come from that, “Yeah, that should work, I’m not doing anything tonight,” She agreed. “When do you want to meet up?

Sal and Brian seemed to speak for a minute on the other side of the line before addressing her once more, “If you’re not letting us take you out, then you’ve at least got to let us pick the place. I’ll be at your house around 7 to pick you up, dress… casually fancy,” Sal said, all rather quickly, “See you in an hour!” He said, sounding rather excited. 

Before Bella knew what was happening, Sal had hung up the phone, leaving her to her own devices. With a sigh, she stood up from where she was sitting on her couch and marched up the stairs to her bedroom to look for something to wear, she only had an hour, after all. 


	4. Chapter 4

After a few frantic moments of rummaging through clothes, she decided on a blue, floral print dress with a round neckline that hugged her waist tightly, she slipped on a pair of black heeled boots and grabbed a matching black bag that was big enough to fit her purse and phone into. 

She pinned her hair back so it would stay out of her face and reapplied a light layer of mascara and lipstick, just to freshen up from her workday. 

Before she knew it, her hour was up and she was running around the house to try and find a light jacket that she could throw over her shoulders at least. In the midst of her scramble she heard a loud series of knocks on her door. Abandoning thoughts of a jacket, she grabbed her bag from where she left it on her table and ran to the door. 

Opening the door, she found herself face to face with Brian Quinn, who was leaning against the entrance to her house. She was taken aback by how nice he looked, he was wearing a dark black shirt, dark gray pants to match, with a dark suit jacket resting on his shoulders. His hair seemed to fall around his face very nicely, compared to the usual mess that it was, and it was almost strange to see him without a hat atop his head. 

It took her a moment to realize Sal was there too, standing slightly behind Q, and looking just as good. His hair was slicked back, looking perfectly kept as always. He was wearing dark pants and dress shoes, with a button down blue long sleeve shirt that had small white flowers printed on it, he had his glasses on too, which Bella found particularly cute! 

“Bella!” Both men said at the same time when she opened the door, startling her a little bit. 

Before she knew what was happening she was being pulled into a hug by Sal, the larger man wrapping his arms around her and pulling her face into his shoulder just as he had done earlier, but this time it was a little bit looser of a hug. “I’m so, so, so happy you accepted!” He exclaimed, letting her pull back out of the hug. 

She opened her mouth to respond when she was pulled backwards and spun around into another pair of arms, Q’s arms, to be more exact. She realized that he hugged differently than Sal did, both of his arms were around her back, wrapped around her rather tightly, his large hands sprawled out over her dress. She found that her face was being shoved into his chest, his hand moving closer to her upper back to keep her pinned there rather securely. He was stronger than Sal, she could feel it in the way she was being held by him, and after a moment, she realized that she wasn’t hugging him back so she pulled her arms around his middle, lightly returning the hug. 

“Congrats, Bell,” Q said, and Bella could  _ feel  _ him speaking from where her cheek was pressed up against his chest. 

After another moment, which felt like forever to Bella, he finally let her go, allowing Bella to walk away from him and get herself closer to Sal, where she felt a bit more comfortable. “Thanks guys,” She said with a smile. “So where are we going?” 

The three of them started to head down her porch towards Q’s jeep, “That’s a surprise, Bells,” Sal said, as they reached the car. 

Bella was looking to climb to the backseat of his car, but with one look into the car she realized that she wouldn’t be able to fit in the back seat, it was filled with weird props, most likely things that they were going to use in the show. However, in the front of the car there was the driver’s seat, where Q would definitely sit, and two seats next to him, he most likely had to modify the seating arrangements once they realized they would be going out. 

“This is going to be a tight fit,” Bella muttered, before climbing into the passenger side of the car before Sal, knowing that she would be the one that would have to sit in the middle. She didn’t know why she didn’t realize this was the look of the car before, but probably because she was tired and a little bit drunk last time she was in his car. 

When she was settled into the middle of the car, Q slid into the driver’s seat next to her, his arm pressed against hers before Sal got into the car behind her, pushing her even closer to Q. There was no center console separating the passenger seat and the driver seat, she was guessing that’s what she was sitting on, so her thigh ended up pressed up against his, their bodies much too close for comfort. 

Q must’ve noticed her trying to move away and he stilled her with a hand on her knee as Sal was situating himself. “You’re fine right where you are, Bell, I don’t mind,” He smiled at her, releasing her knee before putting his buckle on and turning on the car. 

“I do,” Bella muttered under her breath, blinking a few times, but she finally realized that she couldn’t get further away from Q at all, so she buckled herself in and got comfortable, her body squished between Sal and Q as the two men sat comfortably. 

“Can I know where we’re going now?” She asked once Q pulled away from her curb. 

Sal shook his head as Q let out a laugh, “Not yet, it’s a surprise,” Sal said, nudging her slightly with his arm. 

“You like Cajun, right?” Q asked, looking down at her from the corner of his eye. 

Immediately, she knew where they were going, “We’re going to Bayou, aren’t we?” Bella asked, grinning slightly, she did really enjoy Bayou, as long as she was paying, because it wasn’t  _ cheap _ . 

The men on either side of her looked like neither of them knew what to say, they both just stared forward, exchanged a quick glance and looked forward again before speaking at the same time. 

“You got us!” Q said.

“No we’re not!” Sal said. 

The two of them looked at each other again, “Dude, you just spoiled it!” Sal argued, his hands flying up. 

“You gave me the look though, you were saying we were going to tell her!” Q argued back, one hand coming off the wheel to gesture in Sal’s direction. 

Bella tried to diffuse the tension, she put both her arms up, which were previously stuck behind both men’s arms, and held them out, “Alright, alright boys, I figured it out, where else do you get Cajun and have to look this nice? No one spoiled it for me,” She laughed, putting her arms back down, trying to maneuver them around both men. 

Sal groaned, “Fine, we’re going to Bayou,” He said in defeat. 

“It doesn’t matter anymore, we’re here,” Q announced, pulling into the parking lot.

The three of them scrambled out of the car, Bella very happy to be back in her own space, and they walked into the restaurant. Bella noticed that as they walked inside Q stood directly behind her, his hands brushing her back and shoulders every once in a while, to which she would try to shy away from but he always seemed to be right behind her. 

Sal was quick to find the table that Joe and Murr were sat at and led Q and Bella towards their table, Q close to Bella’s back the entire time. As soon as Joe and Murr noticed that they were on their way, both men sprang up from their seats, Joe much slower than Murr, and made their way to greet Bella and their two friends. 

“Bells!” Murray exclaimed, running up to her and sweeping her up into a hug, his arms coming around her waist and hers coming around his shoulders, “Congratulations! We’re so happy for you!” He said, pulling away from their hug so Joe could congratulate her as well. 

Joe stood with his arms open, waiting for Bella to hug him first, which she happily did! “Congrats, Bells,” He muttered into her hair, before popping a kiss onto the top of her head. 

Bella and Joe pulled apart and she quickly thanked both men before they all headed to sit back down on their table. She found herself sitting in the booth again, this time sitting in between Joe and Q and across from Sal and Murr. She slid into the booth after Joe, and Q slid in after her, moving in the booth until his leg was pressed up against hers once more, despite being plenty of space to the other side of him. 

“Would you mind moving over a little bit?” She asked, her voice coming out rather hushed as Joe and Sal struck up conversation. 

Q looked down at their legs, as if suddenly realizing where he was sitting, “Oh, yeah, of course,” He said, scooting an inch to his left, not as far as Bella would’ve liked but it was something. 

The five of them quickly ordered some drinks for the table and started to look at the menus, deciding what they wanted to eat. “Bella, I’m so happy you’re going to be on set!” Murr exclaimed, almost bouncing up and down in his seat. 

She laughed at him, he was too sweet, “Thanks Murr, I’m excited too, I’ve never had a job quite like this,” Bella said, finding the whole thing still slightly crazy. 

Their drinks came a moment after that and Joe was quick to raise his glass, “To Bella, for your new job, we all hope you love it as much as we do!” He said with a wink, before taking a drink. 

All of the others followed his lead, Bella too, but when she was done she raised her glass again, “And firstly, I would like to thank Sal for getting this job for me, and secondly, I’d like to thank the rest of you for being so supportive and really great friends, I’m really very grateful,” She said before taking a sip out of her drink. 

Murr furrowed his brow, “What about Q?” He asked, looking confused. 

Bella set her drink down on the table, and shot Murr a look in response before she looked up at Q who was glaring at Murray, but Murray didn’t seem to notice, “Yeah, Q was the one who came up with the idea in the first place,” He explained, his hands moving as he spoke. 

Once more, Bella looked up at Q who looked rather upset, his hand tightly clenched around his mug, after a moment his eyes shot down to meet hers and they were left to stare at each other for a moment. “I- I didn’t know,” Bella said, still looking at Q, “Thanks, Brian, I appreciate it, a lot,” She said politely, but she was more confused than anything, she had no clue as to why he would do such a thing for her. With Sal it made sense, but with Q… she had no clue what he was going for. 

He nodded at her, “S’no problem,” Then he was looking back at his drink. 

Thankfully, their waitress chose that moment to show up and take their orders, ending the silence. Bella ordered the grilled shrimp wrap, and then their waitress left, leaving them to speak amongst themselves again.

“Are you guys excited to start filming?” She asked, sipping at her drink. 

Joe grinned, “You betcha hun,” He said, excitedly, to which the others agreed immediately. 

“I’m even more excited now that my favorite gal is going to be there with us!” Sal exclaimed, reaching across the table and grabbing Bella’s free hand, shaking it excitedly. 

She laughed, grabbing Sal’s hand in response and trying to return his excitement, “You guys are too much,” Bella grinned, her hand coming free of Sal’s and retreating to her lap. 

Bella suddenly jolted in surprise when Q’s leg maneuvered its way back up against hers, it was so casual she didn’t even know if he did it on purpose or not, but judging by the way he looked straight forward, completely avoiding making eye contact with her, she had a pretty good feeling he knew he was touching her once more. She shifted to her other side a little bit, trying not to crowd Joe’s space too much, but wanting to get away from the unwanted contact. 

“Hey,” Murr said, suddenly, “You know what would be hilarious? A fake proposal, so we can get free dessert!” He grinned, winking at Bella. 

Joe looked like he wanted to whack him upside the head, “With who? No one’s going to want to marry you,” He said, making the other guys laugh. 

“No, we can’t do that,” Sal demanded, looking rather upset at Murr’s idea. 

None of the other guys looked like they cared too much, “Well Sal’s out of the equation then, Murr can’t do it because there’s no way anyone would say yes to him, I can’t do it because I’m married-” Joe began to explain. 

“I’ll do it,” Q suggested, cutting Joe off, but the only person he was looking at was Bella. 

Joe clapped his hands together, “Perfect, Murr you gotta let him know when the waitress is coming back,” He grinned, clearly having food on the brain. 

Bella didn’t know what had happened, it was all so fast, “Calm down, boys, I never agreed to this fake proposal, besides, you don’t even have a ring,” She smirked, clearly thinking that she had their hands tied. 

“You’ve got a ring though,” Q muttered, looking down at her hands that were intertwined on her lap. There was a claddagh ring on her right hand, and there was no denying that claddagh rings could be used to propose to someone. 

Joe shrugged his shoulders, “He’ll propose no matter what, you say yes, you both get free dessert, you say no Quinn gets dessert for being rejected, it’s a win-win pretty much,” He laughed, “How could you say no to free dessert?” He demanded, looking confused. 

She sighed, “Well, even though  _ I _ have a ring, that doesn’t mean that I’ll just hand it over!” Bella said, staring down Joe. 

Joe’s eyes shot up over her shoulder and he grinned, Bella went to turn around to see what it was he was looking at when she was grabbed from behind, two strong arms wrapped around her torso stopping her from turning around. Joe grabbed her right hand and started towards her ring that was snuggly on her finger. 

Bella let out a small screech, trying to pull away from the two men holding her captive in the booth. “What are you doing?” She demanded, trying not to make a scene in the middle of the restaurant. 

Joe pulled at her ring, but she knew it wasn’t going to come off that easily. “It’s not coming off!” he cried out, still pulling on her finger. 

She tried to get an elbow into Q’s stomach, but he pulled himself closer to her so that she couldn’t quite get the angle right, and now his front was pressed up against her back, making her shiver. 

“Alright, alright, I get it,” Bella said, admitting defeat, “I’ll take it off,” She agreed. 

Sal groaned, shaking his head and putting his face into his hands, “I can’t believe this,” He sighed. 

Joe grinned, letting go of her hand, and Q followed shortly after, his arms coming off of her body as he slowly backed away from her. Bella pulled the ring off her finger after a moment, passing it over to Q, then crossing her arms over her chest. 

“Alright Murr,” Joe instructed, “Just let us know when the waitress is coming by,” He said. 

Q was smirking as he slid the ring into his pocket, “Let’s do it after we eat,” He decided, to which the two other guys who wanted to do it, agreed. 

It wasn’t long after that that their food came, her shrimp wrap looked delicious and she dug into it immediately! Halfway through the meal, Q stood up and slid out of the booth before getting down on one knee and reaching out to grab Bella’s hand. 

She was a little bit shocked for a moment, forgetting that he said he was going to do that after dinner, and she didn’t quite know what to  _ do _ . Before she had to decide what to do, Joe was pushing her forward in the booth, so that she was closer to where Q was kneeling, her eyes wide with shock. 

Q grunted, pulling the ring out of his pocket and smiling up at Bella. “Bella,” He began rather loudly, most likely to catch the attention of the waitress, “I couldn’t think of a better time to do this, than now, we’re here with all of our friends, it’s been two years, and you’re the most beautiful person in the world. Bella, will you marry me?” He asked, holding up her ring between two fingers. 

Her eyes were wide and her jaw was dropped, she couldn’t believe that he actually went through with this. “I-I,” She stuttered, not knowing what to say, she didn’t  _ want _ to play along, but she couldn’t just say no, could she? “Yes,” She managed to get out. 

Before she knew what was happening, Joe was pushing her forward once more and Q was pulling her up out of his seat into his open arms. He hugged her tightly, his arms coming around her middle, so that hers could go around his neck, and then he was spinning her around, before setting her back on her feet and slipping the ring on her finger. 

From the corner of her eye, she could see Murray motioning something to Q, and she figured out what Murray meant a second too late. Q’s lips planted themselves right on the corner of Bella’s mouth, not close enough so that they were actually kissing, but to anyone looking it would look like they had. Before she could push him off of her, he was moving away, guiding her back towards the booth and letting her slide into it first. Bella was a little bit shocked, she didn’t know what to do, the other guys were ‘congratulating them, shaking Q’s hand and smiling widely. 

“That was pointless,” Bella muttered when the guys started to quiet themselves, “She didn’t even see any of that,” She said, with a small laugh, it was kind of funny that they went through all of that for nothing. 

Murr grinned, “I don’t know, I think she saw everything,” He said before digging back in to what was left of his meal. “Wait, Q, she’s coming back!” Murray announced in a hushed voice. 

Q jumped into action rather quickly, his arm coming around Bella’s shoulders and pulling her tightly to his side. She was caught off guard, so she fell rather complacently into his side, her hand coming up to catch herself on his chest, putting the two of them even closer together. Her stomach lurched uncomfortably at the feeling of his shirt underneath her fingers and the touch of his hand against her arm. It was a little too much for Bella, she never was one for too much bodily contact, especially between people she  _ barely _ knew, like Q, and here she was, cuddled up against him in a crowded booth. 

“Hey, the manager on service heard about the good news over here,” The waitress said, smiling widely at Q and Bella, “She wanted to give you guys a little something as a congratulations,” and a second later, there was a chocolate lava cake being set down in front of her and Q, adorned with some raspberries, too, and then the waitress was gone in the next second, leaving them alone once more. 

Immediately, Bella pulled out of Q’s grasp, quickly scooting away from him so that she was back in her own space. While Murr and Joe were focused on the dessert and how they were going to split it, Sal caught Bella’s gaze,  _ ‘are you okay?’ _ he mouthed, clearly being able to tell she was slightly upset. 

She nodded, however, reassuring Sal and catching her breath finally, and then she was able to focus on what Joe and Murr were arguing over. 

“The cake’s not big enough for all of us, dumbass,” Joe said, eyeballing the dessert that was placed in front of Bella and Q. 

Q pulled the plate back so it was closer to him, “What are you talkin’ about? This is for me and Bell, we’re the ones who  _ got _ the dessert,” He grinned, picking up his fork and knife, prepared to dig in. 

“It was my idea,” Murr argued, waving his hands as if to stop Q from cutting into the cake. 

Quickly, Bella pushed the plate away from her and closer to Q, “Well I don’t really like cake too much, so one of you can take my half of it,” She offered thinking that her offer would stop the conversation, but Joe and Murr ended up arguing over her fraction of the cake. “If you’re going to argue over it then Brian should just get the whole thing, you can’t just split my half?” Bella laughed, poking at Joe’s side. 

Joe was quick to swat her hand away, and holding out his plate towards Q, “Fine, just give me a piece already,” He demanded as he reached around Bella. 

“What I don’t get any of it?” Sal demanded, throwing out his hands. 

Bella laughed as Joe and Murr got their slices of cake, “Sal, we can go grab some ice cream afterwards,” She smirked, watching as the guys dug into their food. 

Sal was quick to grin, his pout going away, “Sounds good to me, Bells,” He agreed, shooting her a wink, which made her cheeks heat up in response. 

Joe looked at the two of them, with a mouthful of cake, “Hey, hey, hey, if you think that I’m not going to want to get more dessert after this, you don’t know who I am, I mean, you’ve known me long enough,” He said, seriously, nodding his head several times. 

She laughed, not being able to take Joe too seriously, “I guess you can come too,” Bella grinned, lightly elbowing the man next to her in the side. 

“Q,” Murray spoke up, looking behind the booth, “the waitress is coming back again,” he warned them, which Bella didn’t really see the point to because they already got their dessert, but apparently Murray and Q did. 

A split second later, Q had his arm back around Bella, his free hand resting on her thigh, both hands clenched onto her body. The waitress came up to their table and gave them their check, before striking up conversation with Sal, to which the others were quick to join in on. Bella, however, was too distracted by her close contact with Q, and she decided that she’d need to address it as soon as possible. 

“Brian,” She whispered, not having to be too quiet because the rest of the guys were engaged in the conversation that they were having with the waitress, “Can you let go of me, please,” She asked, trying to be as polite as possible, but finding that it was hard when she was in such an uncomfortable position with someone she hardly knew. 

His eyes shot towards hers, their faces pretty close together since he was holding onto her, and after she spoke, his hands seemed to grip onto her even tighter, “She’ll be gone in a minute, just wait,” Q said, sliding a little bit closer to her so that their legs were once more pressed up against each other. 

That’s when she decided that she had enough from him, she couldn’t handle him being so close to her, “You need to let me go right now, Brian, I’m not joking,” She said, her voice getting a little bit deeper. 

Q seemed like he had no clue what to do, “Bell, just relax,” He soothed, his hand running down her arm. 

“Let me go,” She insisted one more time, and Q’s arms came free from around her just as their waitress grabbed the bill back from Sal. 

Bella took a moment to compose herself and moved closer to Joe’s side before she realized that she never got a chance to pay the bill, “Wait, Sal, you paid!” She accused, looking at him with wide eyes. 

He grinned, flashing her his straight white teeth, “It’s my congratulations to you, hun,” He said with another wink. 

She rolled her eyes at the flirtatious man, “Fine, thank you, I’m paying for ice cream though,” She said, gathering her purse into her hands as the group scrambled out of the booth. 

“Where are we going then?” Joe asked after he stood up and shoved his hands into his pocket, looking expectantly at Bella. 

She thought for a moment, “What about Egger’s?” She suggested. 

The other guys immediately agreed, and they headed outside towards where Q and Joe had parked. Joe and Murr started to veer off towards Joe’s car, and Bella silently groaned, not wanting to be squished in between two larger men for another ten minutes. 

“Hey, Joe,” Bella said, thinking quickly, “Can I catch a ride with you and Murr, I haven’t seen you drive in years,” She said with a wink. 

Joe grinned, waving an arm at her as to say come with him, and Bella immediately jumped on his offer, giving a quick wave to Sal, “See you guys there,” She shouted over her shoulder before sliding into the back seat of Joe’s car. 

The drive went by pretty quickly, especially since cracking jokes with Joe and Murr came pretty easy to her, the only time it was hard for her was when Q was around! Joe told her a little bit more about Bessy and how him and Murr used to live together when he had first started going out with Bessy,  _ that _ was a story! The ride to Egger’s was filled with laughter from the two men and Bella, and soon enough they were pulling into the parking lot, right next to Q’s red jeep. 

The trio entered the ice cream parlour to find Sal and Q already sitting at the ice cream bar, Bella was quick to scamper to the stool that was open next to Sal, smiling at him as a greeting. 

Joe sat down on Q’s right and Murr sat down on Bella’s left, giving greetings to each other once more. “Did you boys order anything yet?” Joe asked, cracking his knuckles as his eyes skimmed over the menu. 

Sal shook his head, “No, not yet, we just got in,” He said. 

Bella let her own eye look over the menu before deciding on Vanilla chocolate chip with bananas on top, “I love this place,” She muttered, grabbing a few napkins from the container set out in front of her. 

“What are you going to get?” Murr asked her, grabbing a few napkins as well. 

She shot him a grin, “Can’t go wrong with classic chocolate chip, Murr!” She exclaimed, just as the man behind the ice cream bar greeted them. 

“Good evening, what can I get y’all?” He asked, his southern twang coming out slightly. 

Murr ordered a cone with mint chocolate chips, then Bella ordered her bananas with chocolate chips, Sal got an ice cream sundae, Q got maple walnut in a cup, and Joe got vanilla with peanut butter drizzle and M&M’s. Their ice cream came out in no time, and soon they were all happily eating their dessert. The man behind the counter put down a paper receipt in between where Sal and Q sat, leaving Bella to eyeball the receipt, she did say she was going to pay after all. 

Sal reached his hand out to grab the receipt, but Bella was quick to jump up so that she could reach over his body and grab the slip of paper before he could even get close to it, “Bella!” Sal exclaimed, lurching forward to try and grab it from her, but he was too slow, Bella had her wallet out and was rummaging through it only a second later. 

“No way in hell am I letting you pay again, this is my treat to you,” She grinned, pulling out her credit card and jumping off her stool again before heading towards the cash register and paying for their dessert. 

She joined the men and was welcomed back with a chorus of thank you’s, Murr raised his cone too, earning a giggle from Bella. “You’re welcome,” She sung back, shooting Sal a wink. 

As she was about to sit back down, Sal’s arm came around her shoulders, pulling her into his side so she was almost sitting on him, “I’ll have to get you back for that one Bells,” He said, wrapping his other arm around her too so that she was stuck in a cage of his arms, her body tucked between his legs. 

“Ew, Sal, get off me!” She laughed, throwing her head around so she could see the grinning man a little bit better. When she turned her head, however, her eyes locked onto Q’s, and he did not look too happy. Immediately, he turned his head away and looked down into his nearly empty cup. 

Sal shook her around a little bit, getting her attention once more, “Not until you agree for me to give you an IOU,” He teased. 

Bella somehow managed to pry herself out of his grip, “Not this time Sally,” She said, sitting back down on her stool. 

Joe let out a sigh, “Are you two done now? Jeez next time you can just get some seats by yourself,” He teased, causing a blush to come to both of their faces. 

“Yeah, or maybe just get a room,” Murr laughed, nudging Bella in the side. 

She laughed as Sal waggled his eyebrows at her, “I think we’ll pass on that,” Bella laughed, picking up her spoon so she could finish her dish, since to her it looked like she was the only one that still had any food left. 

Conversation quickly came about again, and soon enough, Bella had managed to finish her dessert as well, leaving them to decide who was going in who’s car once more. In the end, they decided to go as they came, Murr and Joe in Joe’s car, and Bella squished between Sal and Q once more, since she  _ did  _ live closest to Q, it only made sense. 

Bella said her goodbyes to Joe and Murr, hugging each man respectively before clamoring back into Q’s jeep, Sal following closely behind her. “Thanks for taking me out tonight, guys,” She said once she was pressed between the two men again. 

“Anytime, Bella,” Q murmured, his elbow nudging her gently. 

The drive was relatively silent on Bella’s part, Sal and Q were discussing ideas for their podcast that they hosted together, until they reached Sal’s house. “Goodnight Sal,” Bella smiled, giving the larger man a one armed hug before he got out of the car, leaving Bella and Q alone once more. 

“Uh, should I mov-” Bella began, her hand moving towards her seat belt that was halfway underneath her and Q’s combined weight, until he cut her off. 

“No, that’s fine,” He said, his hand coming down to block her path, “We’re not too far from your place,” Q said, as he pulled out of Sal’s driveway and started back on his way to Bella’s. 

As he pulled out into the road he turned down his music a little bit, “So when do you start?” He asked, his eyes not coming off the road. 

“I’m going to go the brainstorm session on Monday, I think, just to get myself acquainted with everyone and to get a feel for how things are run,” She said, picking at her nails slightly. 

Q grunted, “Me and the guys will be there, we try to come up with a lot of challenges then, I’ll show you around tomorrow, the place isn’t too big, but there’s a lot of people there, so it gets a little busy,” He explained, “But just stick with Ol’ BQ and you’ll do fine!” 

Bella let out a little snort, “Ol’ BQ? Where’d you come up with that one?” She giggled, finding it funnier and funnier the more she thought about that. 

“Hey I came up with it, alright? It’s a good nickname,” He grimaced, shooting Bella a glare from the corner of his eyes. 

She couldn’t help but laugh once more, maybe her and Q could be friends, it would just take some time, “Yeah but has it caught on yet? I haven’t heard  _ anyone _ call you Ol’ BQ,” Bella asked, rolling her eyes. 

“Well, no, but it will!” He argued, pulling up behind her car as they finally arrived at her house. 

Once more, Bella rolled her eyes, this time in the direct view of Q, “Sure it will, you keep on telling yourself that Brian,” She laughed, unbuckling her seat belt and moving away from the man a little bit. “Anyway, thanks for driving me home, and uh- thanks again for the job, I think it’s going to be really fun,” She grinned, reaching the other end of his car and opening the door. 

Q looked like he was going to reach out and stop her somehow, but he didn’t move, “Goodnight, Bell, I guess I’ll see ya Monday,” He said, offering her a small smile. 

She jumped out of his jeep and offered him a wave, finding that she was very tired at that point, “Night Brian,” Bella yawned. After that she shut his door and entered her house, getting ready for bed faster than she ever had before and forcing Felix to curl up in her arms. 

“Just wait Felix, in three days I’m going to have the best job in the world!” She smiled into his fur as he let out an annoyed meow, only settling down once she started to absentmindedly scratch him behind the ears, and the two of them drifted off into sleep. 


	5. Chapter 5

Monday morning came faster than Bella was ready for, as soon as the sun was up, Bella was up, her excitement not letting her sleep for any longer. She got ready really quickly, too, showering and getting dressed in record time, leaving her just to deal with her hair and makeup. She decided on something simple, straightening her hair, and putting on really natural makeup. Her morning routine was done before 9, giving her the perfect amount of time to get to work by 10, if the traffic wasn’t too bad, that is. 

Bella got into her small car and put the address she was given into her GPS and started off, excitedly, towards her first day at the job! 

The ride seemed to go by excruciatingly slowly, especially since she just wanted to get there, her nerves were running wild! She didn’t know anyone she was working with, just the four guys, but what were the odds that she could spend much time with them, she was sure she’d seen them in passing, but she was supposed to be working with a whole team to scout out locations. Whatever was going to happen, it was going to be an adventure, that was for sure! 

Finally, she got to the building and parked her car in a lot designated towards the employees, and she scampered out of her car, keeping her eyes peeled for either Joe’s car or Q’s jeep, just to make sure that someone she knew would be there. 

She rode the elevator by herself, finding the office quickly and finally entering her new workspace for the first time. When she entered, there was an older woman sitting at a desk in the front, most likely a receptionist for the entire company. “Good morning,” Bella smiled politely, walking up to the front desk to greet the older woman. 

The woman looked up at her, a bored smile on her face, “Good morning, sweetie, what can I help you with?” She asked. 

“I’m looking for the location of Trutv's Impractical Joker’s creative meeting? It’s my first day,” She explained, hoping that the woman would be able to help her out. 

From behind her, she could hear the bell on the office door ring, signaling the entrance of someone else, but she didn’t turn around to see who, she didn’t have to. “Bella?” Came an excited exclamation from behind her. 

She spun around, momentarily forgetting about the woman behind the desk, to see Murr standing there, dressed in a slim fitting suit and matching red tie, “Murr?” Bella laughed, finding herself surprised to see him there, “Morning!” She greeted back, giving the taller man a hug. 

Murr greeted the receptionist and then took Bella by the arm, pulling her in the right direction of the meeting, “We’re running a little late, but don’t worry, that’ll just make your entrance more grand,” He said, pulling her down a hallway and towards another wooden door. 

“Good Morning!” Murr greeted as he threw open the door to their conference room, exposing lots of unfamiliar faces to Bella, before she had time to process what was going on, Murr had pulled her forward and tucked her under his arm, “This is our new locations manager, Bella Larkin,” He introduced, his arm tightening comfortably around her body. 

Bella grinned up at Murray, she was thankful that he introduced her so she didn’t have to make up her own introduction to a room full of people she didn’t know. “Hi,” She greeted, smiling and offering the table of people a small wave. 

Her eyes landed on Sal’s who was sitting at the other end of the table, who offered her a wave back, “Morning Bells,” He greeted, grinning at her and flashing her a wink. 

After that, Murr pulled her around the table, while everyone’s conversation started back up, and he made it a point to introduce her to every person sitting around the table! She found out that everyone around the table was an executive producer, including the guys themselves, and there was the two current directors as well. After several minutes of introductions, Bella was brought to an empty seat in between Sal and Murray and finally the meeting was able to start up. 

Across from her was Joe and she was quick to offer him a wave, Murr skipped over both him and Q in the introductions, since he wanted to make it as quick as possible. One of the executive producers named Simmy stood up then and started talking about the direction that they wanted the show to go towards, and then he brought up the discussion of changing the opening of the show for the guys, adding new clips and new promotional pictures, to which everyone was on board with. 

So that was the first topic of discussion, their new opening, all the guys had ideas for what they wanted, her personal favorite was Murr’s idea to have the Staten Island Ferry in the background at some point! The guys also knew what photo shoot they had wanted to use for the opening, they were all in agreement on that, Q briefly complained that they’d need pictures where he had a beard because he wasn’t planning on shaving anytime soon, to which Joe quickly yelled at him to sit back down, but in the end he got what he wanted anyways. 

It was an interesting meeting to sit in on because at first it was a lot of business talk, but the longer the meeting went on, the more casual it became, and they stopped talking about money and ways to make the show more interesting and instead moved onto talk of new ideas for the show, like challenges and even a few punishment ideas. They talked about locations to film in New York, which boroughs to go to, and a few locations in New Jersey, even. 

What really caught her attention was when they started talking about filming in a location  _ really  _ out of state, Texas, to be exact! Her mind started to buzz with her favorite location from the Lone Star State, hoping that they would ask for her input at any point, but they didn’t discuss locations, they only talked about Texas  _ themed  _ challenges that they could do, but Bella’s mind was still abuzz with her locations! 

Once the meeting was over Sal came up to Bella, wrapping an arm around her shoulder before she could protest and leading her out of the room, “Come on Bells, I’ll give you the tour!” He grinned, pulling her along. 

Bella swung her head around as they left the room, her eyes briefly meeting Q’s before the door swung shut behind her, cutting off her vision, she did feel a little bit bad, he had offered to show her around and introduce her to everyone, but she also preferred Sal’s company much more than Q’s so who was she to complain! 

Sal led her into a room that seemed to be more of a casual hangout area, “Here’s where we hang out when we’ve got nothing else to do, people eat lunch here, sometimes we watch TV. Casey likes to hang out here a lot, Casey Jost, you’ll meet him today I’m sure,” He said, waving his hand around the room. 

Connecting to that room was two more doors, Sal pointed to the one on the left, “That’s just the bathroom,” He blew past it, before reaching for the door handle on the door on the right, “And in here,” He said, opening the door and pulling Bella inside, shutting it behind him, “Is where the guys and I come up with punishments for each other, mainly,” Sal said. 

The room was smaller than the other conference room but it was much more homey, there were two large windows on the farthest wall, and from what it looked like the windows were actually doors, that led out onto a small balcony overlooking the city. There was a couch up against the right wall and two plush chairs on the other wall with a table between them, some papers and notebooks strewn about. 

“Sometimes we’ll record podcasts here, too, but mainly we come in here when we wanna do some punishment brainstorming, without the other guy, so I’m not in here a lot,” He grimaced, picking at one of the notebooks that was left on the table before throwing it back down. 

Bella grinned at the man’s look of disdain, “I’ll be rooting for you this season, Sally,” She said, elbowing the man in the side to distract him from his thoughts. 

Sal perked up then, pushing Bella’s elbow away from his side, “Oh fuck, I have to show you where you’ll be working!” He exclaimed, grabbing Bella by the arm again and tucking it in the crook of his elbow before pulling her out of the room again. Just as they exited the smaller room that they were in, Sal found himself running straight into Q, “Shit, sorry man, didn’t see you there,” He muttered, putting his free hand on Q’s shoulder. 

Before Sal and Bella could slip off again, Q had grabbed Sal’s shoulder in response, “S’alright man, hey before you go anywhere else, Simmy wanted to talk to you, can you meet him back in the conference room? Q asked, his eyes never leaving Sal’s face. 

“Yeah, thanks man,” Sal agreed, “Would you mind showing Bella around the rest of the area? I was going to show her where she’d be working,” He said, as Bella’s arm came free of Sal’s grip. 

Q finally shot a glance at Bella, “Yeah, I’ve got it covered,” He agreed, moving to Bella’s side so Sal could get around him and head off to the conference room. 

“I’ll catch up with you later, Bells,” Sal waved before going off to talk to Simmy. 

Then it was just her and Q left alone once more, “So, I thought I was going to be showing you around this morning, huh?” He asked once they started walking again. 

Bella paled a little bit, she didn’t expect him to actually  _ confront _ her about that, “What can I say, Sal got to me first,” She said, brushing off the conversation. 

Q looked back at her from underneath his cap, “I guess you can’t say no to Sal, next time I’ll have to let him know,” He muttered that last part under his breath before reaching out and holding open a door for her. 

Bella brushed past him into the new room to find herself looking at a larger room, one big desk in the far side of the room and three chairs positioned around the desk area. She heard Q shut the door behind the two of them and step up behind her, he was so close that she could feel his breath on the back of her head. “Is this-” Bella began to ask, but her words stopped coming out when she felt one of Q’s hands come up and rest on her shoulder. 

“And this is your office,” He introduced, his hands prodding her forward and further into the office area. 

She didn’t need prodding for much longer, once he got her halfway across the room she perked up a little bit and cleared the rest of the space by herself, reaching the desk before going behind it and running her hands over the surface. “This is mine?” She asked, looking up towards Q. 

He smiled, shoving his hands into his pockets, “All yours,” Q grinned, shifting around on his feet as he stood in the middle of the room. 

Bella couldn’t even help the smile that came to her face, it was really a lovely space, the desk was larger than she’d ever had, and the window behind her was absolutely huge, with an even more gorgeous view! “This is incredible,” She breathed, blinking a few times as she looked around to make sure it was all real. 

Q walked up to her desk, running his fingers over the surface as she’d done a moment ago before he walked around the desk, coming to stand right  _behind_ Bella. She was too engrossed in the excitement of having her own office that she barely noticed he was there, until he put his arms on either side of the desk, his chest skimming across her back. 

She jumped up at the sudden, unwanted contact, "Brian?" She asked, her breath picking up. 

He didn't say anything for a moment as he crowded her against her new desk, his breath hitting the back of her neck and their body's pressed ever so slightly against one another. "Bella," He breathed, his knuckles turning white as they gripped the wood of the desk. 

The two of them were silent again, neither one of them knowing quite what to say or how to move. Bella was pretty sure she heard Q open and close his mouth several times; like he was thinking of what to say next. 

"Bella, I want-" 

As soon as the words started to come out of his mouth the door had been opened and Murr walked into the room. Immediately Q jumped back from Bella and separated himself enough to make it look like nothing was going on- well, nothing  _was_ going on, she didn't know what that was, it was weird! 

"Thought you guys would be in here!" Murr grinned, striding into the room like he owned the place, "Just wanted to let you know, Q, that Joey came up with a punishment for Sal, we're going to go over it, if you wanna join us when we're done," He told him. "Do you like your office?" Murr asked, fixing his attention on Bella then. 

She nodded, backing away from the desk and getting herself away from Q in the same instance, "Yeah, I love it actually, it's bigger than my old one," Bella said as she walked towards Murray. 

"Happy to hear it," He grinned, his attention switching back to Q almost instantly, "Alright man, maybe we'll see you there?" Murr asked before he strode out of the room, letting the door swing shut behind him. 

Q cleared his throat, "Uh, yeah, so...  I don’t really know what goes on at location meetings, but I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out, I’m just happy you’re working here now,” He said, shuffling a little bit closer to her side. 

She turned to face him while at the same time putting some space between the two of them, “So what are you planning on doing the rest of the day? Do you have more meetings?” Bella asked, narrowing her eyes as she watched Q shift around before moving to look at the chairs set around her desk, most likely for the other location scouts when they came in to discuss topics. 

He shook his head, his dark hair falling into his face, “No, I think we’re all just hanging out now, there’s some more production meetings I think, but I’m done for the day, I'll probably go see Joe and Murr soon,” Q shrugged, pushing his hair out of his face and before Bella could respond, he’d rounded the desk once more to meet up with her and he was guiding her out of the room, “You still haven’t met everyone though, let’s try to catch you up,” Q said, pushing her forward with a hand against her back, making Bella jump when he first made contact. 

Q led the two of them into the first room she’d been in as soon as she passed the receptionists desk, it looked like a general gathering area, no desks, but there were several tables and chairs scattered around the room. And there was a  _ bunch _ of people! “You up for this?” He asked, craning his head down so that his mouth was by her ear. 

Bella nodded, straightening herself out and taking a step away from Q so that it didn’t look like she was being completely dependent on him. “Let’s do it,” She agreed, stepping fully into the room. 

The two of them got right to it, Bella was able to meet some of the crew and several comedy producers, too, they were all really nice people, and it was really easy for her to hit it off with some of them, especially some of the crew members. Q told her that the people she’d be working with would be there tomorrow and that he would be able to introduce her then, but she figured she could introduce herself to the people that she’d be working with, technically she’d be their boss if she was sure she knew what her job description was. 

By the time the two of them made it throughout the room she felt very overwhelmed, she’d just gotten a lot of names thrown at her and a lot of faces she’d have to try to remember, but she was sure she’d get the hang of it sooner rather than later, she’d always been good at putting names to faces, and, more importantly, being able to remember the names in the first place!  

“Hopefully this will make it a little bit easier tomorrow,” Q said with a shrug, after he’d pulled her over towards an empty table and sat her down next to him, “Since you’ve got to meet some people today.” 

Bella didn’t bother getting too comfortable seat, she was planning on heading out soon since she’d came to do all that she had to do, “Yeah I’m sure it will be very helpful, I’m happy I got to come in early,” She smiled, looking around the room some more, “Could you show me where Murr and Joe might be, I think I'm going to head out,” Bella said after a moment of silence. 

Q raised his eyebrows, “Oh, yeah, uh… come on,” He said, standing up and waiting for her to follow him before he started towards the  exit again, bringing her back to the room Sal had showed her earlier where the guys ‘brainstormed.’ 

When the two of them entered Bella could see Joe scrambling to close a notebook he was writing in before he greeted them, “Hey guys,” He said, setting his notebook down on the coffee table, “What’s up?” 

Bella slipped around Q to head towards where Joe and Murr were sitting and she quickly threw her arms around Joe’s neck, “I’m heading out, wanted to say bye,” She said, as Joe returned the hug. 

She quickly moved on to hug Murr next, “Hey Bells, let’s get lunch tomorrow, my treat,” He offered, as they pulled away from the hug. 

“I’d love that!” Bella said with a smile, “I’ll make sure to find you tomorrow then,” She said, turning back towards Q so he could hopefully help her find Sal, but thankfully at that same moment, Sal walked right through the door that her and Q had just walked through. 

Bella greeted him almost immediately, “Hey Sal, I’m heading out now, I’ll see you tomorrow,” She said, lifting herself up on her tippy toes so she could wrap her arms around his neck, which he was quick to reciprocate the hug. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” He asked, squeezing her tightly around the middle. 

She grunted and pushing him away teasingly, “Yeah, you will,” Bella assured him, “I’ll see you all tomorrow,” She said to all the men in the room. 

When she made way to go through the door she had to brush past Q, that was the only reason she realized that he was following her, “I’ll walk you to your car,” He decided, his hand grazing her back as they went through the doorway. 

“You really don’t have to Brian, I’ll be fine,” She said as the two of them walked side by side towards the parking garage. 

He shrugged, “There’s not much else I’ve got to do here, s’no big deal,” Q assured her, as he adjusted his hat and reached in front of her to open the door for her. 

Bella gave him a quick thank you and let him follow her through the doorway until they were at the parking garage, “Alright, Brian, thanks for walking me out- uh, I guess I’ll see you in the morning then,” She said, pulling her keys out of her pocket before turning back towards Q. 

Q nodded, “Yeah, uh, get home safe an’ all that,” He said, “I’ll see ya tomorrow,” And with that Q turned to head back inside and Bella got into her car, finding herself all too excited for tomorrow to come. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer wait for a not so long chapter; next chapter I like a lot more than this one!


	6. Chapter 6

Bella arrived on set 45 minutes early, wanting to make sure that everything was perfect, and it gave her time to grab herself a coffee so who was she to complain? Their location was still available for them, and more than happy to participate in the challenge that they’d set up for that day; so Bella was able to take a little bit of time to explore the area. She found a cute little cafe a block away and she ordered herself a drink before heading down towards a nearby park that had a cute little pond with some ducks wandering around the area, since it was still pretty early. 

The time went by pretty quickly, as she just enjoyed the nice weather and soon enough she had to head back to set. When she arrived back the crew had finished setting up, their cameras were all set up and the crew was in a small area in the back of the pastry place, and Bella was quick to join some of the crew that were sitting around a few tables, sipping at their own drinks. 

“Morning,” Bella greeted, giving a smile to each one of them, to which they all responded in eager. 

She recognized a few of them as camera crew and some of them as carry crew, she was proud of herself for remembering some of their names, too! She heard some laughter from behind her and she couldn’t help but to turn her head to see who it was making all the ruckus. 

Unsurprisingly, it was Sal, laughing loudly at something Casey had said, gaining a whole bunch of attention from the crew. Casey was quickly pulled aside by one of the execs, leaving Sal on his own to look for someone to give his attention to. 

Bella found herself locking eyes with the man before he determinedly started walking towards the group she sat with. She turned back around, finishing up the rest of her coffee, and pretended like she didn’t know he was heading over until the people around her started to say their good mornings to him. 

She spun around, setting down her empty cup on the table before she pretended to notice him, “Oh, good morning Sal,” Bella greeted, shooting him a quick wink as she adjusted so that she could speak to him better. 

“Morning,” He greeted, giving a wave to some of the crew she was sitting around before he blatantly turned towards her, “Hey Bells, wanna go get something to drink? My treat, since it’s your first day and all,” He asked her, setting one of his hands down on her shoulder. 

She frowned, her other hand coming up to rest on his, “Sorry Sally, but I already grabbed myself a drink when I got here,” Bella told him, gesturing towards her coffee cup. 

He shoved her a little bit, his hand that was on her shoulder jostling her around a little bit before she laughed and pushed him away, “Let me buy you  _ something _ , did you eat breakfast at least?” Sal asked. 

“I had a granola bar,” She said, crossing her arms at him. 

In the next second, Sal had pulled her up from her seat and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her towards the front of the shop where he was most likely going to further insist on buying her something to eat, “That’s not nearly enough, we’re getting you a real breakfast,” He insisted, his hand digging into her arm as he pulled her into his side. 

She laughed, wrapping her arm around his middle in response so the two of them walked side by side towards the front of their location, “Alright, thanks Sal, I’ll make sure to eat something for real next time,” Bella grinned. 

When the two of them reached the front of the pastry shop, Bella saw Joe and Q standing by the counter, looking over the dessert counter. “Morning, bitches,” Sal greeted, a large grin on his face. 

Joe gave him a brief glance over his shoulder and a grunt of ‘good morning’ before he went up to order himself some food and Q turned to face the pair. 

“Mornin’ Sal,” Q said, his eyes locked on the duo, “Bell, ready for your first day?” He grinned, walking towards them. Sal pulled away from Bella, with the exception of his hand lingering on her arm, before greeting Q with a one armed hug. 

When the two men pulled away from each other, Sal returned to Bella’s side, “Morning, Brian,” Bella said, “I sure am, are you ready to be filming again?” She asked politely, her eyes wandering over towards the fresh baked pastries that were right in front of her. 

He nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets, “Yeah, super ready to make an ass of myself,” Q said with a chuckle, “You guys getting coffee?” He asked. 

Sal shook his head, “Nah- well I am, Bella already got coffee,” He mocked, throwing his arm back around her as he teased her, “She’s just getting some food, you ready?” Sal asked, tilting his head down so he could better see Bella tucked under his arm. 

She shoved him in the side in response to him grabbing her once more, but she really didn’t mind too much, things were very comfortable with Sal, just as they’d always been, “I’m all set, just waiting on you, oldie,” She grinned, jabbing him in the side with her elbow. 

He sputtered a little bit, “Oldie? I’m  _ younger _ than you are!” Sal argued, making Bella laugh at how adamantly he was defending himself, of course she knew that, he was just so easy to get going she couldn’t help herself. 

“Yes, but only by a month, besides I look younger than you do, so that’s all that matters,” Bella grinned, spinning out of Sal’s grip before pulling him forward in line towards the cash registers, leaving Q to trail after them. 

Sal regained his composer pretty quickly and caught up to Bella, bumping into her side with his, so that they were standing shoulder to shoulder. “Hi,” Sal smiled at the cashier, “I’ll have a large coffee with sugar, and…” He trailed off, looking to Bella to finish the order. 

“I’ll just have a chocolate croissant please,” She requested, smiling politely at the older woman behind the counter. 

The woman offered the two of them a smile back, “Of course,” She said, “And might I just say that you two make a very sweet couple,” Then she turned her back to the two of them and started on their order. 

Bella’s jaw dropped as Sal started to laugh, “Thank you!” He called out to the woman who was grabbing Bella’s pastry from the glass container before he grabbed onto Bella once more, twining his fingers through hers. 

She couldn’t help but snicker at Sal, he was far too pleased with himself, but the two of them were snapped out of their stupor when from behind them Q nudged Sal forward, throwing him off balance, “Come on, man, the rest of us want our coffee too, you can’t take all day,” Q joked, but Bella thought that he looked rather moody behind his blank smile. 

“S’not my fault that Bella and I get attention wherever we go,” Sal grinned, shooting a wink towards Bella who now had her hand free of his and was nibbling on her croissant. 

Bella raised her eyebrows towards him, “Right you are, Sally, can’t help that people think we’d be great together,” She said, standing on her tiptoes and pressing a quick peck on Sal’s cheek, “Thanks for the food, too,” Bella said before she scampered back off towards the crew, since they were about ready to start shooting. 

She shot a look over her shoulder to see Sal waiting up for Q as the two of them stood, waiting for Q’s drink now. Bella noticed that Q looked very sullen, his shoulders were hunched and he was completely turned away from Sal, but she supposed that it was just because he hadn’t had his coffee yet! 

Once Sal and Q rejoined the set they decided to get rolling, and soon enough they were all set up to start Murr’s challenge for the morning. Bella was queued in that they were playing one of their favorite games today, called ‘Did I Deserve That’ which was basically where they would take turns standing behind the counter and an actor that they had hired would come in and throw a cup of water in their face, leaving them to try to convince the person that they were serving that they didn’t deserve that. Bella was none less than thrilled to watch this challenge take place, it sounded hilarious! 

A crew member named Stephanie had offered to show her some clips from the challenge but Bella refused, wanting to experience this live for the first time. Once Murr was set up he served a few customers, getting them their coffee and scones until the place really started to pick up a little bit more. Once there was a decent amount of customers seated around the shop and in line, they had sent their actor in to throw the first cup of water of the day! Sure enough, Bella found it hilarious, Murr’s reaction was the best, he looked completely caught off guard, and the man who’s order he was taking had a near similar reaction, Bella couldn’t help but laugh. 

After Murr’s turn, they took a little break, the crew needed some time to reset and make sure that everyone from Murr’s turn had cleared out of the area, which gave Bella some time to talk to more of the crew. She made friends with some of the camera people pretty quickly, finding that they were all very easy to talk to, and she talked to Murray a little bit too, but he was pretty busy drying himself off so she left him to his own devices. It wasn’t until Bella sat herself back down at a small table that she noticed Q for the second time since that morning; He was sitting by himself, Joe and Sal were off a little ways away from him, and he was looking at his hands, twisting the silver ring he wore on his middle finger around, looking very glum. She wasn’t sure what to do, maybe this was just how he was on set? Joe and Sal didn’t look all that concerned, but she found it hard to believe that this was normal for him, sure everyone was pretty busy at the moment, but she couldn’t help but to be curious. 

Deciding to take matters into her own hands, which she never really used to do with Q when they were younger, Bella walked over to him, sitting herself down in an empty chair next to him. “Hey,” She greeted, shooting him a smile. 

He looked up at her, looking somewhat surprised to see her there, “Hey,” He returned, his eyes moving back to look at his ring. 

“So that was pretty funny, I still wasn’t quite sure what to expect,” Bella said, trying to make polite conversation with him, “Who came up with that challenge?” 

Q still wasn’t looking up at her, “Can’t remember, it’s been an idea that we’ve had for a while I think,” He said, “I’m glad you thought it was funny, Murr had it pretty easy if you ask me, we’ve had to deal with worse answers than that,” He said. 

Bella nodded, then remembered he wasn’t looking at her and straightened herself out, “Jeez, if that’s easy I can’t wait to see how the rest of the day goes then,” She said with a laugh, “I’m going to have to catch myself up on the show so I’m not lost everyday on set!” Bella joked. 

Finally, Q perked his head up, “Yeah, that wouldn’t be a bad idea,” He agreed, smiling a little bit. 

“Well, anyways, I am excited to see how the rest of you guys do, when are you going? I think I heard that it’s Sal’s turn next and I told him that I would be rooting for him today…” Bella trailed off when she noticed Q’s whole demeanor turn sour once more. 

He moved his eyes away from her as she continued to talk, his shoulders turning inward on themselves as a frown came to his face, “Yeah Sal’s alright at it, I wouldn’t root for him,” He murmured, the words coming out of his mouth bitterly. 

Bella frowned at him, he was kind of being an ass, “That’s kind of rude, don’t you think?” She quipped, not being able to stop herself. 

Q let out a puff of air through his lips, “I was just fucking talkin’, jeez,” He muttered, sounding more and more annoyed by the minute. 

With a huff, Bella stood up, “Well fine, now you don’t have to ‘fucking talk’ anymore, I just thought you might want some company but since you’re being an asshole I guess I’ll just go fuck myself,” She hissed at him, moving to stomp away from him, but she was quickly stopped when thick fingers latched themselves around her slim wrist. 

“Fuck, Bella, I didn’t mean it like that-” Q began to apologize, but she as quick to cut him off. 

“Thanks but no thanks, Brian, I’m not in the mood to deal with this on my first day, I shouldn’t have thought that we could behave like adults around one another,” She said, pulling her arm out of his grip before she marched like a woman on a mission back over to where she sat before, her look of annoyance quickly slipping off her face when Stephanie started to pick up conversation with her once more. 

Thankfully, as soon as Stephanie started to talk to Bella, the cameras started to roll again, this time with Sal behind the counter. Bella blatantly made a point of it to walk up towards the monitors the crew watched on and put herself right up front, her eyes unwillingly darting over towards the other guys, only to turn away when her eyes locked with Q, who looked rather grumpy. 

But she didn’t care, he deserved it, hopefully, for everyone else’s sake, he’d be able to perk up for the show, since it was for everyone here, not just him. 

Sal’s bit started up rather quickly, he’d been standing behind the counter for only about five minute before his actor came in, dousing the man with water, leaving him sputtering to speak. Bella gave a sly glance towards the other guys to see them all laughing at Sal’s expense. 

Bella internally cheered as Sal won the challenge, getting his customer to agree with him that he did nothing wrong. After his turn it was decided that Joe would go next and then they’d take a quick lunch before finishing up with Q’s turn, to which Bella had no complaints. 

Joe’s turn came much faster than Sal’s did, the shop had cleared out rather quickly after Sal’s turn and soon enough it was all cleared for Joe to be able to take his place behind the counter. Bella was still by the monitors by the time Joe was up, and she giggled when he started to dig into the pastries behind the counter, “This happens every time,” Someone next to her muttered, laughing to himself. 

She looked up at the man next to her, she recognized him from the other day, but she didn’t remember being introduced to him. He was pretty tall, pretty cute, curly brown hair that sat on top of his head in a rather messy way, he had grey eyes and tanned skin, “I mean he’s been like that for as long as I’ve known him,” Bella said, leaning towards the man a little bit so he knew she was talking to him. 

He laughed, “As long as we’ve all known him, you’re Isabella right, the new locations manager?” The man asked, holding his hand out to her, “I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of properly meeting, I’m Tom, Tom Simmons,” He introduced. 

Bella smiled as she grabbed his hand, “Nice to meet you, Tom, please call my Bella,” She said, offering him a small smile. 

Their hands broke apart, “So, this is your first day?” He asked, rocking back and forth on the balls on his feet. 

She nodded, her eyes slipping back to watch the screen as Joe’s actor came through the doors, “Yeah, well I came to the office yesterday, but yeah, first day actually doing any work,” She said with a laugh as Joe got doused. 

Tom was watching the screens now too, “Well it was very nice to meet you, Bella, if you’ve ever got any questions feel free to ask,” He offered. 

Bella smiled not looking back at him yet since everyone was watching Joe master his way through the challenge, “Thank you, Tom, I appreciate that,” Once Joe was done she turned back to him, smiling. 

“Hey, it’s lunch now, are you planning on grabbing anything to eat?” He asked, enthusiastically. 

She almost automatically said yes, but she was quick to remember that she had told Murr they could go out together for lunch, “Sorry, I made plans with Murr yesterday, maybe another time?” She said, leaving the offer open, she was all for becoming close to the people she worked with, so why not start with Tom? 

Tom smiled back at her, “Yeah, that would be great, I’ll see you later then, have a good lunch, Bella,” He told her before heading off to God knows where. 

The crew started to disperse then, and Bella was quickly able to spot Murr, “Hey, James!” She called out, successfully getting his attention, “Still on for lunch?” Bella asked once she’d made it up to his side. 

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Q staring at the two of them from under the brim of his hat, but she brushed it off as coincidence, he was probably still grumpy for whatever reason and wasn’t thinking about where he was looking. 

She was snapped out of here thoughts once Murr started talking, “Yeah, lemme just grab my jacket,” He said, running towards a chair that had coats galore piled up on it. 

A second later, Murr had joined Bella, slipping his arm into hers and strolling out the front of the cafe, arm in arm, “Where do you wanna go?” He asked as they started to stroll down the street. 

“You’d know better than me, I’ll trust wherever you decide to go,” Bella told him. 

Murr was quick to decide on a Mexican place that was about a block and a half away from them, and the two of them were quick to get there and devour their meals. Bella was starving; apparently a granola bar and a croissant is not enough for her in the morning, and Murr could eat a lot more than than it looked like, both of them finished their meals in record time. 

“This was really nice, Murr, let’s make it a point to do this more often, alright?” Bella said once they were walking back to the location, arm in arm. 

He more than enthusiastically agreed, slipping his arm out of hers before helping her slide her jacket off and popping a quick smooch onto her cheek before walking away, both their coats in his hand. Bella smiled as she watched Murr walk away, she always enjoyed spending alone time with Murr, ever since high school. 

Bella turned to head back towards the monitors to see if she could help out in any way, but as soon as she turned around she found herself spinning right into a solid chest and nearly toppling over if it weren’t for a pair of strong arms steadying her. 

When she’d got her breath back she looked up to see that it was Q who caught her, his large hands gripping her upper arms, holding her steady and rather close to his own body, “You alright there, Bell?” He asked, his grip on her arms not coming loose in the slightest.

She had to blink several times, to help calm her racing heart and head, “Yeah, I’m fine, ‘scuse me,” Bella muttered, still feeling pretty annoyed with the larger man as she made way to walk around him. 

Before she had the chance to get around him though, she was blocked again by his chest as he quickly stepped in front of her, successfully stopping her from walking around him. “Wait, Bella, could we talk for a minute?” He asked hopefully. 

Bella furrowed her brow, frankly she didn’t want to talk to him at the moment, there was still 15 minutes of their break left and she was planning on enjoying it, what she didn’t want was to be annoyed again. “I don’t think that would be the best idea,” She said, once more moving to get around Q. 

This time when she moved to get around him, he got a little bit more ballsy, before she knew what was happening Q had grabbed her by the shoulders and started pushing her backwards, almost causing her to trip over her own feet, but that would be impossible since he was holding onto her so tightly. 

Not wanting to cause a scene, Bella tried to rip away from his grip without being too loud, thankfully the back was still pretty empty of the crew, most were still enjoying their break, “Brian, what do you think you’re doing?” Bella hissed, tripping over her own feet again as Brian steered them towards the very back of the store. 

“I need to talk to you,” He ground out once more, finally pushing her towards the very back of the store where they were much more secluded. 

Once he had her cornered in the back of the store Bella was finally able to jerk her shoulders out of his hold, but she was guessing that was only because he was now blocking her in with her body, “I told you I don’t want to talk to you! You can’t just  _ manhandle _ me to get your way Brian,” Bella hissed once more, not wanting to attract any attention to the two of them. 

He frowned as he watched her eyes dart from side to side, wanting to get away from him, “I just wanted to tell you I was  _ sorry _ ,” He quipped, his eyes narrowing at her. 

Bella’s eyes jerked back to his, “I told you I didn’t want to hear it though,” She shot back to him, stepping forward to confront him better. 

Q didn’t back down though, “What can I fuckin’ do then?” He asked, also stepping forward so Bella had to look up to be able to stare him in the eye. 

“Nothing,” Bella spat at him, “I don’t want  _ you _ to do anything, you were in a shitty mood that happens, but you don’t have to be an asshole though, even if we barely know each other,” She said, finding herself getting angrier and angrier. 

Once more Bella tried to push past him but he grabbed onto her with one hand, and pushed her backwards again, “That’s what I’m trying to apologize for though dammit,” He nearly shouted. 

She couldn’t help but roll her eyes as she tried to shake his hand off of her, “Well you’re not doing a good job of it, cornering me in the back of the store and demanding you’re able to apologize? That’s a pretty fuckin’ shitty apology,” Bella shot back, her voice raising slightly now too. 

With his free hand, Q ran it over his face, his hat falling off in the process and his hair coming loose around his face, “Bella I’m fucking tryin’!” He full on shouted. 

She winced, finally realizing just how loud they were being and finding that she was thankful for the coverage that Q had provided them with, “Brian,” She hissed, bringing her volume down tremendously, “I do not want to deal with this right now, it’s my first fucking day on set, are you trying to make it shitty?” She accused, shoving against his chest as she advanced on him once more, his hand gripping onto her shoulder even tighter to keep himself from falling backwards from the force of her shoves. 

His face dropped, “No, fuck no!” Q said, his voice dropping to a lower volume to match hers, “Bella, I didn’t mean to- fuck,” He muttered, his words trailing off. 

Bella shook her head, “Brian, just give me the day, I don’t have the patience to deal with you today,” She said, and finally this time, Bella was able to walk around him, his hand sliding off her shoulder and back down to his side. 

As she walked away she could hear Q’s heavy footsteps following after her but trailing off once she had rounded the corner and made her way back towards the rest of the crew. Wanting to calm down, she immediately found Sal and went up towards him, “Hey Sal,” Bella said, smiling best she could. 

His attention was brought away from the sandwich he was eating as soon as Bella started talking and he offered her a smile in return, “Hey Bells, how was lunch, you went out with Murr right?” He asked, putting his lunch down by the table in front of his monitor. 

She nodded, “Yeah, it was nice, we went to a Mexican place I’d never been to before, I’d go back someday,” She said with a wave of her hand. 

Sal’s eyebrows furrowed, “You alright?” He asked, setting his hand down on her shoulder and pulling her towards him so that the two of them wouldn’t be interrupted. 

Bella’s smile brightened up a little bit more now, Sal was always able to tell when she was in a bad mood, especially when it came to Q. However, this time it felt a little bit different to tell him it was his friends; in high school they were all pretty close, but now she hadn’t really seen her friends in years, but Q had been with them much longer than she had. She wasn’t sure if she should tell Sal, she was an adult, she didn’t want it to seem like she was trying to get him to take sides. 

“Yeah, I’ll be alright, I just got a little frustrated,” Bella told him, grabbing his free hand with hers, she was very careful with her word choice, not wanting to give away who made her frustrated. 

He frowned, “Are you sure? D’you wanna talk about it?” Sal asked, spinning her around so that their backs were to the rest of the room. 

Bella shook her head, “It’s okay, really,” She assured him, squeezing his hand. 

“Well,” Sal said with a sigh, “If it’s really bothering you you know where to find me!” 

The two of them turned back towards the room so that they weren’t just huddled in the corner anymore, “Thanks Sally, I don’t know how I lasted without you,” She grinned, winking at him, “I’ll talk to you later then, I think they’ll probably want to start filming again,” Bella said, slipping away from Sal and back towards the monitors that the crew used. 

Since they only had Q’s bit to do left, she didn’t expect to be on set much longer, and frankly at that point she didn’t even care to see how Q’s turn went, with the exception of someone yelling at him and throwing a cup of water in his face. But she stood towards the back as the staging area was set back up for Q, deciding that she would try to mingle with her co-workers at least. 

Finally it was time to start filming, but Q wasn’t going out towards the counter, he was hanging around in the back of the shop, his hands shoved deep in his pockets, and his head tilted downward, he looked rather pathetic really, a grown man sulking in the back of a shop! 

Bella watched out of the corner of her eye as Sal walked over towards his friend and started talking to him in a hushed voice. After a minute of them talking Sal’s eyes shot over towards Bella and she was forced to avert her gaze as fast as she could so he wouldn’t see her staring at them. 

After waiting a moment, Bella looked back over at the duo, only to find Sal standing right next to her, frightening her. “Oh shit- ! Sal you scared me,” She accused, holding a hand up against her chest to calm her racing heartbeat. 

He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed, “Sorry Bells, uh, could you come with me for a second?” Sal asked. 

Bella’s gaze wandered over Sal’s shoulder to see Q watching the two of them, “Sure, of course Sal,” She agreed, following the larger man towards the back of the shop once more. 

She wasn’t dumb, she noticed Q trailing behind them, she knew that Q had told Sal what they argued about and why both of them were in moods, but she couldn’t say no to Sal, she didn’t want to make his day any harder than it had to be. Once the two of them were in the back of the shop Sal turned back towards her, “So, Q told me about what happened,” He said very quickly, not letting Bella jump in, “He also told me he doesn’t wanna go out there,” Sal told her. 

Bella frowned, was he really being so petty as to not finish filming when everyone else here had put in a lot of work to make this happen, “He’s not going to finish filming today because we got into an argument?” She shot back. 

Sal shushed her, placing a hand on her shoulders to settle her down, “No, he’s going out, he’d be a douche to not,” He muttered to which Bella scoffed and opened her mouth like she wanted to talk but Sal started up again, “But he’s pretty put down, I know you don’t want to forgive him, and you don’t have to, but could you just try to cheer him up a little bit, if not for him, for me?” He asked her, his eyes pleading. 

She sighed, of course she didn’t want to talk to Q, but she also knew that she couldn’t say no to Sal, she never could, “...Fine, I’ll do it, but you owe me Sal Vulcano!” Bella agreed reluctantly. 

Before she knew what was happening Sal was hugging her, “Thanks Bells, you’re the best!” He grinned, before letting go of her and turning her around in the direction of where Q was lingering close by. 

“Remember, you owe me!” She shot back over her shoulder before slowly heading over towards where Q was standing, trying to look nonchalant. She could tell that is eyes were darting back and forth, not wanting to look at her, but looking to see if she was heading in his direction, in fact, he didn’t look at her until she was right up next to him, and even then he wasn’t looking in her eyes. “Hey,” Bella mumbled once she was standing by Q. 

He shuffled back on his feet, turning his head down, looking entirely grumpy, “Hey,” He muttered back. 

The two of them stood in silence for a moment before Bella let out another sigh, “Ugh, come here!” She groaned, pushing past him and heading back towards the spot where he had cornered her before, hoping that he would follow behind her. 

She could hear his heavy footsteps shuffling behind her, but even so, it was still a shock when she turned back to face him to see him so close to where she was standing, “Listen, Brian, I’m not going to lie to you, I’m only doing this for Sal because I am not very happy with you at the moment, but I’m going to let you apologize to me again, it’s not fair that you’re in a bad mood when the rest of our friends and coworkers are trying their hardest to film today and make it a good run,” Bella said, getting her words out as quick as she could before letting Q speak again. 

“Really?” He asked skeptically, “You didn’t forgive me before, you’re not goin’ to really mean it,” He grumbled. 

Bella couldn’t help but to roll her eyes at him, he was being really dumb, “Well that’s because I didn’t want to hear it before, now I do want to hear you apologize, and if you don’t think I’m going to mean it then you’d better make it a damn good apology so I will be able to mean it,” She said, crossing her arms over her chest. 

At this Q looked up at her, his deep chocolate brown eyes boring into her own, “Bell-” He hesitated, “I  _ am _ sorry, I didn’t mean to be… and I didn’t mean to yell at you, I’m sorry,” Q said sincerely. 

He did sound genuinely upset with himself, Bella could tell just by the way that he was standing and she couldn’t help but to feel bad for the man, sure she was just forgiving him for Sal’s sake, but if he really was sorry… With a sigh, Bella reached out and placed a hand on his arm as a comfort to him, “Brian, I forgive you,” She said slowly. 

Hearing that, the tension in his shoulders immediately released and he completely slumped over, “Thanks Bell- I’ll really make it up to you, I promise!” Q said, perking up completely. 

Bella was able to offer him a small smile in return, happy that he was looking so much happier now. It was weird that she was able to change his mood so quickly, but it just proved to her that he really must’ve felt bad about what he’d done. 

The two of them walked back over towards the set together, side by side. Working here and being friends with Q might not be so bad after all.


	7. Chapter 7

She was excited!

The network wanted to get the show filmed in a new location, which meant some vacation time, too! The final decision came down to Texas, which Bella was thrilled about! She’d never been to Texas before, but she’d planned several trips for people in the past, and now she got to plan a trip for a whole group of people, herself included!

A few of her coworkers were trying to find location to film while Bella worked on finding a hotel that would fit everyone and making several dining reservations as well that were requested of her from the crew and the guys. She did promise Sal she’d book a restaurant for the two of them one night, and some of the crew also wanted her to eat with them one night.

As she was typing up the final plans she’d made there was a sharp knock on the door, “Come in!” She called, not looking up from her computer right away. She was a little surprised; she thought that the whole building was empty since the guys were still filming.

Her door creaked open and Bella looked up to see Tom walk through her door, “Hey, Bella,” he greeted with a smile.

She couldn’t help but notice that he looked really good that morning, he was wearing a dark blue suit with a white striped tie, his hair was messed up a little, like he ran his hands through it before he walked in the room, but it looked good. “Hey Tom,” She greeted, a smile on her face, “Have they finished filming already? I didn’t realize anyone else would be here!”

Tom shook his head, “I dunno. I don’t think so, they’ll probably be done soon though, I’ve been in meeting with the network all day. They gave me some papers to put in your mailbox, but when I noticed you were here I figured a hand delivery would be better,” He grinned, passing her the papers so she could skim them over. “It’s just some ideas that the guys and the network had, places to film in the future and whatnot, we wanted to get your opinion, I’m sure not everything is going to work but we’ll leave that to you,” Tom explained.

Bella grinned as she skimmed over the paper, ideas coming to her head immediately, “This is great, thanks Tom!” She beamed.

He nodded, his hands slipping into his pockets, “Anytime Bella! So, how long have you been here?” He asked, making polite small talk.

“Around noon, I’ve been working on the Texas trip,” She told him, “I didn’t see your name on the list, you’re not coming?”

It was a smaller group of people going than they usually had on set, there was the four guys, five cameramen and women, a move crew of five people, one makeup person, one executive producer, one of Bella’s location scouts, one executive producer, and Bella herself, totalling at about 18 people.

“Yeah we decided only one exec would need to go, save money and all that, the decision didn’t end up with me going,” Tom chuckled, shaking his head, “I’m sure I’ll be missing out!”

Bella opened her mouth to respond, but she was cut off when a heavy knock landed on her door, “Come in!” She called, noticing that Tom seemed just as confused.

Her door flung open to reveal an exhausted looking Brian Quinn. “Bella-” Q immediately started into her office, his eyes locked on her, until he noticed Tom and paused, “Hey Thomas,” Q greeted, sounding very weary.

“Brian, what’re you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be filming?” Bella asked, finding herself very confused, it was supposed to be his punishment day and he was at the office? 

Q shook his head, “Just finished,” He said, shuffling around a bit, his eyes darting between her and Tom.

Bella opened her mouth once more, but her and Q started talking at the very same time.

“Can I help you?” She asked.

“Let’s go get a drink,” Q said at the exact same time.

She furrowed her brows, confused, this conversation was just getting weirder and weirder, “What?” Bella asked.

This time, Q stopped looking at Tom and walked right up to her desk, sitting down at one of the chairs that were set in front of her desk. “Let’s go get a drink,” He repeated, “I’ll wait for you to get ready,” Q said, adjusting his hat.

“I’m sorry, I was speaking with Tom, uh-” She hesitated, not knowing how to tell him to politely leave.

Q shrugged, turning around to look at Tom again “I’ll wait, I wanna go get a drink,” He decided, making himself comfortable in the chair he was sitting on.

“Brian, I’m not-” Bella began, wanting to tell him she wasn’t going to get a drink, but Tom cut her off.

He stepped forward, holding up one of his hands, “That’s alright, I’m heading out anyways, I’ll talk to you later, Bella,” And before Bella could try to get him to stay- so she wouldn’t have to stay with Q by herself- Tom had slipped out of the room and shut the door behind him, leaving Bella alone with Q.

With a sigh, Bella turned her attention back to Q who was patiently looking at her, “Well, you gonna get ready?” He asked, expectantly, picking up one of the figures on her desk and moving it around a little bit before setting it back down.

As soon as Q set down the figure Bella picked it up and placed it back where she originally had it set, finding herself rather frustrated with Q, “I don’t want to get a drink, Brian, I am trying to get some work done,” She told him as patiently as she could, diverting her eyes back to her computer.

He settled back into his seat, groaning as he did so, putting a hand over his stomach and closed his eyes, “I can wait until you’re done, as long as I don’t have to  _ walk _ anywhere,” He said with a small cough.

Bella’s interest piqued when he let out another groan, obviously he was her to get her attention in some way, but she wasn’t sure if she should give it to him or not, since he was being stubborn enough to sit in her office. The next time he let out a groan though, Bella couldn’t help but to shoot him a glare.

“Look, I told you I’m not going out tonight, however, if you  _ insist _ on staying in my office, the least you can do is be quiet,” She said, her eyes locked onto his.

He looked really dreary, his eyes were heavily lidded, and he was hunched over in his seated position, “Sorry, Bell- filming really messed with me today,” Q mumbled, letting out another groan, “That’s why I want that drink.”

Now her interest was really piqued, “Really? What was your punishment?” She asked, her attention completely diverted from her work now, and just on Q.

Q closed his eyes and leant backwards in the chair, his arms wrapping around his body, “I gave birth,” He groaned.

A laugh escaped Bella’s throat, “Care to elaborate?” She goaded, not quite understanding what he had to go through.

He peeked out at her from underneath the hat, “I gave birth, I was hooked up to a birth simulator, it hurt so bad,” Q elaborated, “Come get a drink with me.”

She laughed again, louder this time, to which Q sat up a bit straighter, “That’s hilarious,” Bella giggled, “Who came up with that idea?”

Now Q was glaring at her, “It’s not hilarious, I don’t know who fuckin’ thought of it, I just wanna get drunk,” He repeated for what felt like the hundredth time, rolling his eyes at her question.

Bella rolled her eyes in response, sobering up a bit, “Brian, I’m being serious, I’m not going to get a drink with you today, I’ve still got work to do,” She enforced, turning back towards her computer screen to do some final research on their trip.

He grinned, leaning forward so his elbows were resting on her desk, “I thought maybe if I annoyed you for long enough you’d decide the only way to get over it was to go drinking,” Q grinned, winking at her.

Bella flipped him off, “You’re an ass, Brian,” She muttered, not being able to help the slight smile that was on her cheeks.

“So, that’s a yes then?” Q asked, hopefully.

“It’s a maybe, if you can make an event out of it I’ll  _ consider _ going, how about for 6?” She grinned, flashing him her pearly white teeth.

It was if his stomach no longer bothered him in the slightest, he perked up immediately springing to his feet, “You got it Bell, I’ll see you in a couple of hours then!” He smiled, starting out of her office.

“Brian-” Bella shouted, “I never said I was coming!”

Just as he reached her door he spun around and winked at her once more, “I’ll see you there,” Q repeated before shutting her door behind him.

Bella sighed, shaking her head, she couldn’t believe that she was actually going drinking with Q tonight.

()()()()()()

By the time 6 rolled around there was a sharp knock on her office door, it was perfect timing really, she’d just finished making the final plans for their filming schedule for Texas, which she was more than excited for; she did feel sorry for whoever was getting punished though, their idea was a little crazy, but she supposed they all came up with the idea together, they all had to think that they could handle it.

Before she could even yell “Come in!” Her door had opened to reveal Q looking a bit more put together than before, he’d taken off his hoodie and replaced it with an actual jacket and looked a lot less grumpy.  

“You ready, Bell?” He asked, picking up her jacket from where it was hung up on the coat rack next to her door, “I got the other guys to come with us and some of the crew too, we’ll see who else shows up,” Q said, sauntering over to where she was sitting until he was behind her.

She furrowed her brow, grabbing her jacket out of his hand, “I never told you I was going,” Bella chastised, slipping the jacket over her shoulders and standing up from her desk, “But I could use a drink after today, so... I’ve decided to come,” She grinned, walking around her desk towards the office door.

Q followed close behind her, “D’you need a ride?” He asked, trailing behind her.

Bella hesitated, she didn’t drive to work today, she took the subway after getting off the ferry, she just assumed she’d take a cab to the bar though, “Uh- I was just planning on taking a cab, um…” Bella trailed off, scratching at the back of her head as the two of them started down the hallway.

He started forward so they were walking side by side once more, and he was no longer trailing behind her, “Nah, don’t worry about it, I’m going to drive anyways, that’s more money you can spend on drinks,” Q grinned, winking at her.

She took a deep breath, “Alright, fine, thanks for the ride,” Bella agreed, offering him a small smile.

Bella was quick to spot Q’s jeep once they made it down to the parking garage, “When did you get your jeep?” She asked as they got inside his car.

“A couple of years ago, I’ve always wanted a jeep, finally got enough money to get one and I did,” Q shrugged, pushing his dark brown hair out of his eyes before adjusting his hat and putting his car into reverse.

Once the two of them arrived at the bar their whole party was already there, they were crowded around a couple of booths and couches in the back, and Bella was very pleased with herself to realize she recognized most of the people there.

As soon as the couple reached their party, Bella immediately went up to greet her friends, separating herself from Q, “Hey guys!” She greeted, a huge smile on her face as she went up to hug Sal and Murr.

They both gave her enthusiastic hugs in return, “Hey Bella,” Murray greeted, setting down his drink on the table next to him.

“Where’s Joey?” She asked, realizing there was one of her friends that she hadn’t seen yet.

“He’s not here yet, I think he was trying to get Bessy to come along with him tonight, so we’ll see if he comes,” Sal said with a shrug, taking a sip of his drink.

That was when Q caught up to Bella, positioning himself right behind her before greeting his friends with a nod of his head. Bella noticed him standing behind her and she moved out of the way, getting herself closer to Sal. “Bessy is his wife right?” She asked, reaching out as if to ask for a sip of his drink.

Sal nodded before passing his drink over towards her, “Yeah, you still haven’t met her?” He asked, curiously.

Bella took a quick sip out of Sal’s drink, finding that she actually really enjoyed it, despite not being one for fruity drinks, “Not yet, hopefully I’ll be able to tonight!” She said with a laugh, “I’ll be right back, I’m going to grab something to drink.”

Seconds later, she was at the bar, ordering herself a beer, wanting to get the taste of Sal’s fruity drink out of her mouth. Once she had her bottle in her hand she maneuvered her way back towards their area in the back, finding herself meeting up with Stephanie and chatting around with her for a little bit.

She’d finished her first bottle of beer faster than she would’ve liked, feelings a small buzz start to come to her. As she looked for a place to set her empty bottle down, Sal came up to her, grabbing the bottle from her hand, “Want me to grab you another one, Bells?” He asked, setting a hand down on her shoulder.

Bella excused herself from Stephanie, turning towards Sal, “I’ll come with you, if you’re heading back to the bar,” She told him, grabbing him by the hand and pulling him out through the dance floor back to the bar.

“We’re not going to be able to do this much longer, Bells,” Sal grinned once they reached the bar and were waiting for the bartender to come get them their drinks.

She rolled her eyes at him, “Sal, don’t you think for one minute that getting older is going to keep me from having a good time, I’ll go out by three, be back in by seven, don’t you worry about me Sally,” Bella grinned as the bartender came back towards them and got them their drinks.

“Sure you will Bella,” Sal said sarcastically, “More like me and you will be having dinner at three PM and going to bed by five!” He teased her, shoving her shoulder and grabbing her beer bottle before she could get to it.

Once Bella had recovered from Sal shoving her she realized he’d left her alone at the bar, so Bella was quick to scamper back through the crowd after him, searching for her beer bottle. After making it back through the huge crowd of people she spotted Sal back by the couch that was occupied by the crew, and she would’ve marched back over to him if it weren’t for her getting interrupted by a body coming right in front of her.

“Bella!”

She looked up to see Q blocking her path to her beer that was being held captive by Sal, “Hey Brian,” Bella said, jumping back slightly.

He took a couple of steps forward to meet her, “I’m heading to the bar to get a drink, you want anything?” Q asked, gesturing towards the bar.

Bella waved him away, “No, uh- I’m good actually, I just got a drink, but Sal stole it from me, I’m on my way to get it back,” She told Q, giving a pointed look towards Sal.

Q looked over his shoulder to see Sal talking to Murr, his drink next to him on the table while Bella’s beer was in his hand opened up as he took a sip of it, “Well,” Q decided, turning back towards Bella, “This is much more important than my drink right now, let’s get you your drink back,” He decided, turning around and walking determinedly to where Sal was standing.

Bella balked watching Q retreat towards Sal, and after a moment of hesitation, she ran after the larger man, curious as to what he was doing. Once she reached Q she overheard a bit of the conversation that he was having with Sal.

Sal noticed Q come up next to him, and then he noticed the drink in his hand, “You fuckin’ liar,” He accused, “You do like my drinks!”

Q raised his eyebrows, swirling Sal’s drink around and bringing it closer to his face, “No man, you’re the only one who likes this shit, this isn’t mine,” He mocked.

Bella chose then to head up to Sal and try to get her drink back, she darted around the larger man and tried to grab her beer out of his hand, but Sal was quicker than she anticipated and he was able to pull his hand away before she even had a change to touch her bottle. “Hey, hey, hey!” Sal exclaimed, pushing her away with his free hand, “Don’t take my drink,” He grinned after he’d swatted her away.

She was about to move towards Sal again when she was stilled by a large hand, Q’s hand, in fact. “Like I was saying,” Q continued from before Bella interrupted, “This isn’t my drink Sally boy, this is yours,” He said with a shrug.

Sal’s eyes widened as he shot his eyes back over to where his drink previously sat, “Q what the fuck?” He demanded, pulling Bella’s drink back into his chest so she couldn’t grab it still.

Q shrugged as Bella finally caught on to what Q was doing and she let herself settle behind him as he handled the situation. “Yeah,” Q mumbled, “I was just going to lick it a little bit-” He said, brining the glass closer to his mouth.

Sal’s jaw dropped almost comically, making Bella snicker, “Ew no what the fuck man? Stop!” He demanded, reaching for his glass once more, “Here, take the damn beer and give me my drink!”

Q looked really pleased with himself as they swapped the drinks and Q was able to turn back to Bella and give her the beer, leaving Sal to glare at them. “Thank you, Brian,” Bella said, gratefully accepting her bottle back.

“Alright!” Q said, clapping his hands together, “Now that that’s settled, I’m going to get a drink, I think it’s well deserved,” And with that, Q left Sal and Bella alone again.

Bella shot Sal a smirk, “That’s what you get for being an asshole Sal,” She sang out, taking her first sip of her already opened beer.

The bigger man narrowed his eyes at her, “I did  _ not  _ deserve Q almost putting his mouth on my drink!” Sal shot back at her, cradelling his drink against his chest.

She rolled her eyes at him, “You let me take a sip earlier though, I didn’t think it would be a problem when Brian did it either,” Bella grinned, knowing Sal would have a much bigger problem with his friend  _ licking _ his glass compared to her taking a sip.

Bella giggled when Sal narrowed his eyes in her direction, “That is  _ not _ something to fuckin’ joke about,” Sal snapped at her, looking down at his cup in disgust for a moment.

With another laugh, Bella shot a wink towards Sal and slipped away from the annoyed man before he could take his annoyance with Q out on her any longer. Bella spotted Murr and was about to head towards him when from behind her she heard Joe calling out her name. She spun around to see Joe heading towards her, there was a very pretty woman next to him, too, Bella guessed that this was Joe’s wife Bessy.

“Hey Joe!” Bella greeted, moving forward to meet him.

Joe smiled at her, stepping forward to give her a one armed hug, before going back to the woman behind him, “Bella, this is my wife, Bessy, Bessy, this is Bella, we were friends back in high school, she works for the network now as our locations manager,” He introduced.

As Bella went to stretch out her hand, Bessy came forward to greet her with a hug instead, to which Bella was happy to respond in kind, “It’s really great to meet you, I’ve heard a lot about you from Joe,” Bella smiled once the two of them pulled apart.

Bessy slipped her arm into Joe’s smiling up at him, “All good things, I hope,” She said with a laugh.

Joe grinned back down at her, “Only the best!”

Bella smiled at the couple, they looked very sweet together, and she could tell that Joe was very in love with her, then Bessy turned back towards her, “I’m afraid that Joe hasn’t told me much about you though, how did you two meet?” She asked walking over towards the nearest couch and sitting down, leaving Bella to follow after her, and Joe disappeared, most likely to get himself a drink.

Once the two women were settled down sitting next to each other, conversation came easily, “I knew him in high school, like he said, but we went to different schools, our schools came together a lot though, so senior year I met Joe, Sal, and James,” She told the younger woman, who seemed to be listening rather intently.

Bessy smiled and leaned on the edge of the couch, “So do you have any embarrassing stories about him? Murray, Sal, and Q have told me some but you know how they are,  _ and _ you know how Joe is, he’s not embarrassed by too much,” She laughed.

Her eyes lit up, of  _ course _ she had stories about Joe, she just had no reason to tell them before now! “Oh, I’ve certainly got some stories-” She began, wanting to share, until Joe walked up to the pair again, two glasses in his hands.

Joe went to go sit down next to Bessy, handing her one of the glasses and Bessy mouthed ‘later’ to Bella, who grinned in response. “What’re you two talkin’ about?” Joe asked once he was sitting, his arm around Bessy.

“Nothing, honey,” Bessy smiled, leaning into Joe’s side, “Just about how you two met,” She said, smoothly, to which Bella nodded in agreement.

After that, Bella sat with Bessy and Joe for a little while longer, but soon enough the two of them got up to go dancing, and Bella was left to finish her beer on the couch by herself. Once she’d finished her second beer she was starting to feel a little tipsy, but nothing too bad, she was ready to have a good time! When she stood up she felt her head swim a little bit, but nothing too bad, and the next thing she knew she was heading towards the dance floor.

Bella managed to get herself in the middle of the dance floor, the most densely packed part of the bar area and started dancing. With her blood pumping faster now and the two beers that were in her system, she started to feel a little bit more tipsy than before. She started dancing though, waiting for someone to join her, and she was joined soon enough, but not by anyone she wanted to dance like  _ that _ with.

After a minute of her swinging her hips around she was grabbed from behind, but by the shoulders, more like someone was trying to scare her. She did jump too, and spun around to see Sal standing behind her, laughing at her reaction.

“Got cha!” He had to shout for her to hear him, “Sorry, Bells, I couldn’t resist,” He said with a little wink.

Bella narrowed her eyes at him and swatted him on the arm, “You’re  _ so _ funny Salvatore,” She teased back, finding that she was pressed rather close to him amidst all of the dancing people.

“Awe don’t be like that,” He pouted, “Tell you what, I’ll make it up to you with a dance!”

She paused, pretending to think about it, “Fine, i’ll let you dance with me,” Bella said with a wink, grabbing onto his hands so the two of them could start dancing together. She couldn’t help but giggle as Sal pulled her even closer against him, wrapping his arms around her waist and starting to dance with her, laughing a little bit as well.

Once their song was up, Bella had broken a sweat, and by the looks of it, Sal had too, “Thanks for the dance Sally,” She grinned, breaking away from the larger man.

He winked at her again, “Anytime Bell, now good luck finding someone else in this place that will dance as good as me,” Sal smirked, looking rather pleased with himself.

Bella laughed again, “I’ll catch up with you later, Sal!” She said, slipping away from him so both of them could dance with strangers.

As soon as she was free from Sal, she was greeted from behind by what felt to be a really tall man, and Bella relaxed into his body, letting her hips move against his. At one point in her dancing she noticed Sal had managed to find a new partner, and she smiled a little bit, but then she was brought back into her own world of dancing. She didn’t know how long she’d been dancing for, it was a couple of songs that she got through, maybe a couple of men, too, but soon enough she found herself needing another drink and she broke free from the man she was dancing with and she walked back towards the bar to get herself another beer.

Once she’d reached the bar and ordered herself another drink she felt someone come up behind her. “Hey Bell, it’s getting kinda late, let’s head out,” A familiar voice said from behind her.

She spun around to see Q standing there, keys in his hand, “Hmm?” She muttered, her brain not processing everything he’d said at the moment cause of the alcohol, “Oh, alright, I’ll see you later then, night!” She said cheerily, waving at Q as the bartender brought her another beer.

When Bella started to walk away from Q she was stopped by a large hand holding her back, “Wait, I said we’re going, you’re not ready to leave?” He asked, looking perplexed as he gripped her shoulder.

Bella frowned, trying to shove him off her shoulder, but failing, “I just got a beer,” Bella said, not liking how he flexed his fingers around her shoulders.

Q shrugged, “Just drink it on the ride home, come on,” He demanded, sliding his hand down her arm to grip at her bicep instead.

He started to pull her towards the exit, but Bella was quick to attempt to ground herself, “Brian, stop,” She demanded, trying to pull her arm from his, “I’m just going to catch a cab, I can’t drink while you’re driving anyways!” Bella said, halting both of them as they approached the door.

Now Q was frowning too, “Drink faster then, I’m not letting you take a cab by yourself tonight,” He enforced, stepping closer to her so he was crowding her space.

Bella was getting frustrated since Q still hadn’t let her go, and was even more frustrated that he was acting like he was responsible for her, “You’re not  _ letting _ me?” She demanded, lifting her eyebrows in surprise.

Q felt her tense up under his hand and he knew he didn’t say the right thing, “I don’t mean it like  _ that _ Bella, It’s just that if you’re drinking I want you to get home safe and-” Q started to ramble.

She cut him off quickly though, “I’ll get home safe Brian, it’s not your job to worry about me, we barely even know each other for crying out loud,” Bella said, feeling her head swimming a little bit, “And let go of me!”

His hand came loose from around her bicep and she was finally able to pull away from him, “Bella I’m just tryin’ to help!” He said, his voice getting louder as he grew more annoyed.

“Brian, I don’t  _ need _ your help!” She shot back, sounding just as annoyed.

Q threw his hands up, looking really frustrated, “Fuckin’ fine! Fine, I’ll just leave then, sorry for tryin’ to be fuckin’ decent!” He nearly shouted.

Bella narrowed her eyes at him, “Bye then,” She muttered, sarcastically, rolling her eyes at him and starting to walk away from him and back towards the bar.

She didn’t turn around, she walked purposely back over towards the bar and sat down, ready to finish her beer in silence for a while, she didn’t want the other guys to see her frustration with their friend. Once she finished her last beer, she decided that she wasn’t really in the mood for any more dancing or handing out with her friends, so she headed back towards their tables so she could say goodnight and finally head home.

The first familiar face she saw was Murray, “Hey Bella, what're you still doing here?” He asked, furrowing his shaped brows. “I thought you were going home with Q!”

Bella had to force herself to not flinch when he said this and she sobered herself up a little bit, “Nah I told him I was going to catch a cab, but I'm planning on heading out now, I just wanted to say goodnight,” She smiled, walking up to the bald man and giving him a quick hug, “D’you know where Sal and Joe are, I wanna say goodnight,” She said, looking around to see if she could spot either man.

Murr shook his head, “I think Joe and Bessy left for the night, Sal was with some girl last time I saw them, I'll help you look if you want?” He offered.

She shook her head, “Don't worry about it, I'll just head out then, if you see Sal though let him know I said goodnight,” Bella instructed, “Night James, get home safe,” She said goodbye once more.

He nodded, “Yes ma’am, same to you, text me when you're home,” Murray instructed to which Bella laughed and assured him she would before leaving the bar, hailing a cab, and putting an end to her long, strange day.


	8. Chapter 8

**4:30AM**

Bella shot up to the blaring alarm next to her head, slapping the off button before it could bother her anymore, but she couldn’t go back to sleep, she had a plane to catch! She’d packed her car up the night before, so all she had to do was make sure her carry on was ready and get dressed for the morning!

When 5:00AM hit, Bella was just getting into her car and on her way towards the airport. Since it was so early, traffic wasn’t too bad, but the drive still took some time. She turned up her music and listened to the occasional buzzing of her phone, most likely reminders about the trip, and maybe a few texts from the guys and the crew checking in to say that they were awake and headed towards the airport, hopefully!

Soon enough, Bella had made it to the airport and checked her bags in, waiting at the bag check to meet anyone that would be coming so she could set them up with their tickets and send them on their way to security.

Finally she was able to check out her phone to see several messages from a couple of the people that were supposed to be heading towards JFK.

_Sender: Sal Vulcano_

_Morning Bella! Joe just picked me and Murr up, we’re on our way to JFK now._

_Sender: Brian Quinn_

_Headed to JFK, see you there soon._

Bella was quick to respond to both men that texted her.

_Sender: Bella_

_Morning, Sal, get here safely, I’m waiting by bag check, let the other guys know I said morning!_

_Sender: Bella_

_Thanks, Brian, I’m by bag check FYI_

After that she shoved her phone into the pocket of her jacket and sat down on the nearest bench she could find, slinging her bag down in front of her feet so she could keep and eye on it. In the next ten minutes, some crew started to show up, and she sent them on their way towards security so they could get on the plane as soon as possible!

Next, Murr came bouncing through the doors to see Bella, with Joe following behind, coffee in hand, and Sal trudging through the doors last, looking exhausted. “Morning Bella!” Murray said, walking over towards her and bending down to give her a one armed hug.

“Morning Murr, morning Joe, Sal!” She greeted, standing up to hug her other two friends. She pulled out their tickets from the folder in her hand and passed them out respectively to each man. “Here’s your tickets, guys, you can go check your bags over there and head off towards security, I’ll meet you there in a little bit,” She told them, to which each man responded in kind, Murray happily accepting his ticket and marching off towards the bag check, Joe nodded and grabbed the ticket with his free hand before waving bye, and Sal slumped forward muttering something and shaking his head before grabbing his ticket and shuffling off towards his friends.

Bella checked her phone again, they still had over an hour until their plane left, but she’d requested everyone meet her an hour and a half before their plane left, but Q still wasn’t there. She hadn’t seen him in several days, but her annoyance with him had dissipated after spending some time away from him, so she was hoping that they wouldn’t have to talk about it today, besides, she was under the influence that night, too. When it finally hit an hour until boarding, the doors swung open to reveal Q, swaggering through the doors, bags dragging behind him. “Good morning, Bella!” He greeted, grin on his face as he went up to her and threw his arm around her in a one-sided hug.

Once he pulled away Bella cleared her throat and pulled out his ticket from her folder, the last ticket in the folder. “You need to hurry up, go check your bags, meet me by security and we’ll go through together, just hurry,” She told him, grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulders.

He nodded as he took his ticket from her, “You got it Bell,” He said with a wink before swaggering off towards bag check.

“Hurry!” Bella called after him, to which Q just waved his hand at her and continued on his way towards bag check.

She rolled her eyes and started off towards security, finding herself looking backwards when she was on the escalator to see if she could see Q in line for his bags yet, but she couldn’t see anything, hopefully this was a good sign. She waited another ten minutes for Q until he met her at security, only his backpack leftover.

“Are you ready?” Bella asked somewhat impatiently.

Q nodded, stepping forward to meet her, “Yeah, let’s go,” He agreed, starting forward towards the line, his hand coming up like he was going to push her forward on the small of her back, but Bella was fast enough to be able to spin around and move herself before he was able to touch her.

They were rather silent as they waited in line together; Bella stayed with her back to him but she could feel him brush up against her back every once in a while when they moved in line, he was standing very close behind her. Thankfully, the line went by very fast, and the two of them made it through security without any problems.

Once they made it through security, the pair was quick to find their gate and were able to meet up with the rest of their group. Bella quickly set her stuff down towards the outside of their large area and skimmed through her notes, making sure everyone was accounted for and they were going to have no problems at all. They still had another half hour until boarding and Bella could hear her stomach grumble, begging her for food. Thankfully, she spotted a Dunkin’ Donuts down the way and she was quick to head over.

When she arrived at the long line she spotted Sal and she slipped into the line next to him, “Hey there, stranger,” She said, teasing the larger man who still looked very sleepy and very grumpy.

Sal grunted in response, practically ignoring her.

Bella smirked, he was in a perfect mood to bother him, “Sally, come on, perk up!” She chirped, wrapping her arms around his body and sliding one hand up into his already messy hair and tossing his hair around before his hands came up to pull hers away from his head, “You’re no fun this morning, come on Sal, we’re going to Texas!” She exclaimed, excitedly.

He groaned, one of his arms coming around her body to return her insistent hug, “Just let me get my coffee, then I’ll be more awake,” He muttered, his weight slumping down to partially rest on hers.

She couldn’t help but laugh as she stood next to her sleepy friend, “Alright, I’ll leave you alone then,” Bella agreed, moving to slip away from him, but Sal grunted, pulling her back to him.

“What do you want?” He asked her, gesturing towards the menu.

Bella waved her hand at him, “Don’t worry, I’m going to get in line now and get something for myself,” She told him, trying to move away from him again.

Sal let her go, “Well I’m going to get you an egg sandwich, d’you want ketchup?” Sal asked, with a smirk on his face.

She couldn’t help but to roll her eyes, “Fine, yeah I like ketchup, thanks Sal,” Bella said, gratefully.

Sal and Bella walked back to their group together, boy of them happily eating their sandwiches and Sal drinking his coffee, “Is that better?” Bella teased, poking him in the side.

“Leave me alone,” Sal grinned, playfully shoving her away with his free hand, “I’m trying to drink my coffee in peace!”

Bella laughed, “Alright Sal, sorry I bothered you, I’ll leave you alone now,” And before Sal could respond she’d slipped away and reclaimed her original seat to finish her sandwich.

Not ten minutes later, they were being called to board, Bella found herself standing in line, waiting for her ticket to get scanned. That was when she felt someone moving closely behind her. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Q was standing pretty close behind her.

“Where are you sitting?” Q asked her, once he’d gained her attention.

Bella glanced down at her ticket, “Uh, I’m F35,” She told him as they got closer to the attendant scanning tickets.

“Oh really?” Q grinned, “I’m F36,” He said, proudly.

She faltered for a moment, she didn’t _remember_ putting him in the window seat next to her, she thought she’d given Sal the aisle seat, as requested, and Murr wanted the window seat, so she was willing to take the center so they wouldn’t have any random passenger between them, but apparently she’d mixed it up a little bit and put Q next to her.

“I didn’t think you’d want the middle seat, Bell,” He commented, “It’ll make the ride go by faster,” Q muttered, shifting his bag over his shoulders.

Bella nodded, not bothering to look back at him, “Yeah, I’m sure it will,” She agreed, not really paying attention to what she was saying and trying to remember where she put everyone else on the plane, but she wasn’t able to with Q talking behind her. Thankfully, in the next minute she was getting her ticket scanned and they were boarding the plane.

When Bella reached her seat she slipped off her backpack, trying to quickly get it into the overhead compartment, but before she even had the backpack over her head and into the air, it was being pulled from her hands and thrown up above her head into the overhead compartment. Her eyes shot to her left to see Q throwing his bag in the compartment after hers.

She paused for a moment as Q got into his seat next to the window, and she was snapped back to life when Q reached into the aisle to grab her wrist and pull her next to him, so that she wasn’t blocking the aisle any longer. “Sorry,” She muttered, pulling her hand out of his grip and sat down in her seat, finally being able to relax, until they reached Dallas anyways.

Shortly after Q and Bella were settled down, Sal joined them, settling himself down into his aisle seat and getting situated. “More awake now?” Bella asked, once Sal looked more relaxed.

He nodded, “Not for long though, just until we’re up in the air,” Sal told her, taking out a packet of gum and chewing hastily on it, then he offered it to Bella and Q next to him, both of them accepting it gratefully.

Soon enough the plane was taking off and Bella was tuning out the flight attendant’s speech, closing her eyes as the plane rolled towards the takeoff strip, and finally they were off! The seat belt light went off soon after and Q shut their window so the sun couldn’t bother any of them. Bella pulled out her notebook and started to shuffle through some things, making sure that everything for their hotel was with her and there would be no problems with the rooms or transportation from the airport.

The men on either side of her were quick to recline their seats and settle into them, getting as comfortable as possible in the small seats. As she wrote down some notes about filming locations, she heard Q moving around next to her and just as she glanced at him to see if he was asleep or not, she was affronted to see his head fall sideways and land on her right shoulder.

Bella couldn’t help but to shift around a bit in surprise, until she realized what was going on, Q had fallen asleep on her shoulder. She let out an annoyed little huff, since she was having a hard time moving her arm around under his weight, and then she was forced to put her notebook away since she couldn’t write anymore. Looking to her left, she saw that Sal was asleep too, but his head was resting on his hand instead of her, like Q should’ve been sleeping.

Thankfully, she downloaded a audio-book on her phone before the flight and with her free hand she was able to pull out her phone and pluck her headphones into her ears turning on the book while trying to get comfortable with Q resting on her.

While listening to the audio-book, she almost forgot that Q was laying on her, _almost_. It was about an hour into the flight when she was finally getting relaxed, that Q started to move around again, this time grabbing onto one of her arms with his large hands and pulling her towards him so her shoulder was tucked even more under his weight, and his head was tucked in her neck, his coarse hair tickling her skin.

Bella let out a little gasp as the headphone in her right ear fell out at the sudden change in position, and she was trapped under Q’s grip. Once she realized what had happened she let out an annoyed little groan, he was really being frustrating as of late. She tried to shrug her arm away from him, but he let out a growl and tightened his hold on her arm, keeping her still underneath him.

Turning to her left she could see Sal was still sleeping through this, which she was thankful for, and the plane was pretty dark, most of the windows shut and the lights off, so no one sitting around them would see their compromising position.

“Hey Brian,” Bella whispered, still trying to be quieter on the near silent plane, “Wake up!” She hissed.

He didn’t make a sound and he barely moved, not waking up to her whispering, which annoyed Bella even more. “Brian!” She insisted a little bit louder now, moving as far as to shake him by the shoulder.

This time he groaned a little bit but didn’t wake up.

Before she could attempt to wake him up one more time, Sal was moving to the left of her, he rubbed at his eyes and sat up, turning to see that it was Bella who was moving around in her seat a lot. “Bella, what’re you doing?” He mumbled, sleepily.

She shot around to see Sal waking up, trying to look over her shoulder to see what she was doing, “I- I’m trying to wake up Brian, he fell asleep on my arm,” She explained to Sal, still trying to shrug the strong man off of her.

Sal grabbed her by the shoulder, pulling her backwards into her seat once more, she hadn’t even realized she’d sat up so much trying to get Q off of her, “Jesus, just let the man sleep, you should get some sleep too, we’ve still got almost four hours,” He groaned, his eyes fluttering shut as he got comfortable once more.

Bella rolled her eyes, “I’d just rather not sleep with someone tugging on my arm!” She complained to Sal, but he seemed to be paying less and less attention.

“Then wake him up, but do it quietly, and without moving,” Sal demanded, leaning his head towards her a little bit more, “But since you’ve already got one head on you, would you mind another? My neck got pretty stiff before…” He trailed off, sounding sheepish.

Bella let out a huff, “Fine, if you have to-” Before she had even finished talking Sal was sighing and resting his head down on her free shoulder.

Before she could say another word she was sure the man was asleep, so with a sigh, Bella tried to settle back into her seat, closing her eyes and stretching out her legs.

Next thing she knew she was waking up to the sound of the the flight attendant’s voice over the intercom, telling them that they  were making their descent. Both Sal and Q were still laying on her body, but slowly the two men started to wake up at the same time Bella did. Sal shot up rather quickly, putting his seat belt back on immediately, and Q sat up much slower, realizing he was grabbing onto Bella and he had been sleeping there the entire time.

“Oh, shit,” Q muttered, “Sorry Bell, didn’t realize I fell asleep on you,” He groaned as he sat up and put his buckle back on, “Tell you what, on the flight back you can lay on me if you'd like,” Q said with a grin.

Bella settled back into her seat as they made their descent, “I think I'm going to have to pass on that,” She mumbled, rubbing at the pressure points under her ears to relieve the pressure building in her ears.

Q laughed, his hand coming down to slap her on the knee before resting there, much to Bella’s discomfort, “Bell, we both know I’m too irresistible for you to just pass on that,” He smirked, squeezing her leg a little bit in the process.

She jumped, fighting the urge to laugh, when he squeezed her knee it tickled her a little bit, but she in no way wanted him to know that, “Oh please, Brian, you think too much of yourself,” Bella said, quickly regaining her composure and brushing his hand off of her knee before anyone else could notice.

Their plane started it’s descent; which was Bella’s least favorite part, and apparently Sal agreed with her. The two of them fought for the arm rest for a minute before Sal grabbed her hand and tightly clasped it in his, “Can we just settle for this?” Sal hissed, his eyes closed tightly.

“Yeah,” Bella said, squeezing his hand tightly in response.

From beside her, she heard Q scoff at them, “What the fuck are you guys doing? It’s not _that_ bad,” He said, rolling his eyes.

Sal’s hand tightened around Bella’s, it was clear he wasn’t going to respond anytime soon, and the last thing Bella wanted to do was respond to Q, but she could tell he wanted one of them to speak, “Just shut up for a minute Brian, can you do that?” She shot out, not thinking too much about what she was saying, just thinking about the plane landing safely.

He let out a long breath, sounding annoyed with her, “You don’t have to sound so annoyed at me every fucking time I talk Bella, god damn it’s starting to get really fucking annoying,” He mumbled, sounding angrier by the minute.

Bella let out a sigh, she knew she shouldn’t have said that, but when a plane is landing she doesn’t really have much time to think about anything. Q was still rambling next to her, thankfully it was quiet enough that it wouldn’t bother anyone but her, but she didn’t want him upset on his vacation, cause if he was upset, everyone was going to bear the brunt of it. Before she knew what she was doing, Bella let go of the armrest she shared with Q and reached over him until she found his hand, and grasped it tightly in her much smaller one, “Please, shut up for a minute,” She mumbled, trying to use humor to calm him down a little bit, and in the process help to ease her worries too.

Immediately when Bella grabbed Q’s hand he stopped his talking, he stopped moving altogether. But after a moment, he unfroze and quickly flipped his hand over so that she was able to hold onto his, their fingers twining together. “Uh, yeah,” He said, giving her hand a small squeeze before finally shutting up and just sitting there, occasionally squeezing her hand.

After what felt like hours, their plane landed. Bella was quick to release both Q and Sal’s hands from her tight grip and return them to her own lap, before standing up and waiting for the aisle to clear enough that Sal could get out of his seat and get their bags down for them.  

Bella was quick to get off the plane, well as quick as she could be, sandwiched between two larger men in front of her and behind her, and with the entire line of people in front of them slowly filing off the large aircraft. She could hear Q sighing behind her every once in a while, sounding very bored, and Bella was fighting the urge to snap at him to be quiet, but she managed to stop herself from that.

She was just hoping that when they got off the plane that their cars would be there and ready for them and they could just get to the hotel without any more waiting around. Bella led their large group down to bag claim where everyone found their bags after a semi-decent wait, and then to the pickup area where she looked for anyone that might be there to pick them up, hopefully they’d be holding a sign with her name on it or something!

Joe was the first to spot her name being held up as they rode down on the escalators, pointing it out to Bella who let out a relieved little sigh at the sight before walking over to the man, introducing herself and being led out to the four different cars that were meant to fill up herself, the guys, and the rest of the crew.

She was the last to get into any vehicle, making sure that everyone was in a car and that their whole team was together. The only thing she didn’t account for was the car company sending one car that was smaller than the other three, which meant that two people in different cars were going to have to get very comfortable with one another. Thankfully, two crew members volunteered to shove themselves into the nonexistent space in different cars, leaving Bella the passenger seat in the lead car.

Bella told their driver the address for their hotel and _finally_ they were on their way! In the car with her was crew members, she was pretty sure that her friends had found their way into a car together, and were most likely very squished against each other, the thought made her want to laugh. The car ride was pretty quiet, the crew members in the back seat were pretty excited, but they spoke in quiet voices, since the driver hadn’t put on any music and wasn’t talking much. When they were about halfway to their hotel, Bella finally managed to engage their driver in a little bit of light conversation, asking him about his favorite things to do around the area, which he responded in kind until they finally reached their hotel.

While the crew and the guys unloaded their bags Bella jumped out of the car and started towards the entrance to the building, planning on checking them in while everyone got situated, and hoping that someone would be nice enough to grab her luggage for her.

“Hello,” Bella greeted, noticing that the man behind the desk wasn’t paying attention to her as she approached him, “I have several rooms reserved, under the name Larkin,” She told him.

He started to tap away at his computer, his eyebrows raising slightly when he most likely pulled up her rooms, “I’ve got 12 rooms made under your name,” The receptionist told her, looking at her like she was crazy.

Bella nodded, “Yes, that’s right, I’ll take the keys, please,” She told him, holding out her hand so he could pass over several small folders that held room keys, “Thank you,” Bella said with a smile, turning around to see her group had moved into the large lobby and were waiting there.

“Alright,” Bella announced, once she was standing in front of everyone once more, “I’ve got everyone’s room key, i talked already to the people that were going to be sharing rooms and I hope that everyone will still be okay with the accommodations,” She said with a smile.

The four guys, Bella, and the executive producer were all lucky enough to get their own rooms, everyone else was sharing a room, which no one seemed to really mind all that much, they were lucky that they network gave them enough money as it was!

She gave the people with double rooms their keys first, it was easier to get them out of the way and upstairs into their rooms, clearing out the lobby as fast as possible. When she reached her final four keys, the guys, she finally was able to catch a breath, feeling like her job was mostly done, “And here you guys go, it doesn’t matter which key you take, they’re all the same and they should all be on the same floor,” Bella said, passing out the keys to the four guys.

“Thanks Bella!” Murray said, grabbing his keys from her and slinging his backpack over his shoulder once more, “I’ll see you guys later, I wanna shower first,” He said before scampering over towards the stairs and heading towards his room.

Sal was next, mumbling a quiet thanks before following Murray up the stairs, dragging his bag behind him.

Joe and Q were left with her after that, “Thanks hun,” Joe said, sauntering forward to grab the key away from her and slipping it into his pocket, “We’ll catch up in a little bit,” He said, shooting her a wink before he left her and Q alone.

“Hey, I uh- I grabbed your bag for you, didn’t think you’d wanna go back outside again,” Q mumbled, pulling her bag forward so it was between the two of them.

Bella faltered, he was the last person that she expected would grab her bag for her, she thought that it was just left outside, “Oh, uh, thanks Brian, I appreciate it,” She said, passing him his key and grabbing her bag in her freed hand.

Q shoved his key into his front pocket, grabbing his duffel and hoisting it up over his shoulder heading towards the stairwell that their friends had gone up previously, with Bella trailing after him, wheeling her bag alongside her. “Well, you were getting everyone their keys so I figured it was an even trade,” He said over his shoulder as he held open the stairwell door for her.

Bella held back a groan, she was not looking forward to lugging her bag up all those stairs, but it was too late for her to turn around and go to the elevator. “I agree,” Bella murmured, passing by him to get to the stairs and put the handle on her bag down so she would be able to life it as they ascended the stairs.

“Oh, here, let me,” Q said from behind her, and before Bella knew what he was going to do, he’d picked up her in his free hand and adjusted his duffel over his shoulder and started going up the stairs, “Hanging around an ex-fireman has its perks, huh Bell?” He grinned at her over his shoulder, leaving Bella to catch up to him at the top of the stairs.

Q put down her bag at the top of the stairs and grabbed the door for her once more, “I guess so, frankly, I always forget you were a fireman,” She said, grabbing her bag and dragging it out into the hallway looking for her room.

“Yeah, I guess I don’t exactly look like a fireman anymore…” He trailed off, pulling his room key out of his pocket, “Hey what room number are you?” Q asked, looking at his key and up at the wall to decide which direction to walk in.

Bella turned back to face the taller man, “Uhh, room 232, so I’m going this way,” She told him, jerking her finger to the right.

Q nodded, “Right, I’m 206, I guess I’ll catch up with you in a little while then,” He said, hoisting his bag up once more and turning towards the other side of the hallway, “But uh, before I go, I just wanted to say sorry for last week, at the bar-” He began, sheepishly rubbing at the back of his neck.

She was quick to cut him off, feeling a blush rise to her cheeks, “Brian, uh, you don’t have to apologize, I was drunk and I just took it the wrong way, I say we just forget about it,” Bella suggested.

“Yeah, that works for me- for sure,” Q agreed, nodded enthusiastically, “I’ll see you later then.”

“See you in a little bit,” Bella replied, feeling a little foggy headed since he brought up their previous argument, but she just wanted to rest for a minute, and so she headed off towards her room, hoping she would be able to freshen up and make sure that everything was in order for the rest of their time in Texas!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next couple of chapter will be the Texas episode! Hopefully they'll come out a little bit faster than this one did, thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

It was harder to get up that morning, sure she was excited to start filming and have their first meal outside the area, but she was sure it was going to be a long day. She was quick to get ready though, heading down to their breakfast dining area so she would be ready to start the day. 

She grabbed herself a bowl of oatmeal with some brown sugar and settled herself at a two person table near the window of the dining area. 

“Hey, Bella!” She heard someone call from behind her, “Morning, mind if I join you?” 

Bella turned around to see Stephanie walking towards her, “Yeah, please, good morning,” She returned, moving some of her stuff off the other side of the table so there would be enough room for the both of them at her small table. 

“Great, thanks,” She said, setting her stuff down and heading towards the food to grab some breakfast before returning back to Bella with a bagel with cream cheese in her possession. “Ready to film today? We’re going to a ranch right?” Stephanie asked, starting to eat her food. 

Bella nodded, putting her spoon full of oatmeal back into the bowl, “Yeah, not sure what they’re going to be filming, but I guess that’s always a surprise for everyone,” She laughed. 

Stephanie agreed with a nod, “Yeah I guess so, you’re still coming out with us tonight right?” She asked before taking another bite of her bagel. 

“Oh yeah, definitely, I wouldn’t miss a good meal for the world,” Bella laughed, gathering up her stuff so they could head out soon, Stephanie had gotten to the dining area a little bit later than Bella and Bella was pretty sure that the bus was leaving sooner rather than later. 

Thankfully, Stephanie seemed to notice that Bella was looking to leave, “Oh right, the bus is leaving soon, I can eat on the bus,” She said, picking up her bag and slinging it over her shoulders. 

Bella followed after her until they were back in the lobby, with the rest of the crew. The guys were nowhere to be seen, and Bella was a little bit jealous of the fact that they got to sleep in longer than she did, thankfully this was the only morning she was required to show up with the crew, just to make sure that the first run went smoothly on her end. 

“Alright everyone,” Simmy announced, “The bus will be here in about five minutes, we’re going to have to go through set up pretty quick, we’re going to try to start filming at nine!” 

Bella couldn’t help but to groan, they had a whole hour and a half before they were going to start filming, and since she didn’t know enough about the equipment, she wasn’t even allowed to help set up, which meant she’d be sitting around for a while. 

When the bus got there, Stephanie and Bella chose to sat next to each other and chatted a little bit about life and their trip to Texas, and Stephanie told Bella about the wrap party that they were planning for the last day of the Texas trip, which she was super excited for, and by the time they got to location Bella hardly realized any time went by at all! 

The crew was very fast to unload the bus after they got to location and they were setting up shortly afterwards. Twenty minutes after their bus had arrived at location, a black van had pulled up and the guys got out, looking much more rested than everyone else was, apparently their extra half hour of sleep was much needed for the crew. 

Bella was sitting on a bench by the ranch when they pulled up, her nose buried in the latest book she was reading, something she was very happy she brought along with her so that she didn’t have to sit on her phone the entire time everyone was doing work. They had no problems with location and were still set to film on this ranch, so her job was finished for her, all she had planned for the rest of the day was to watch them film. But when her friends arrived on location she was so engrossed in her book she didn’t even notice that they had arrived. Not until Joe came up to her, anyways. 

“Morning, Bells,” Joe greeted, coming up to the bench to sit down next to her. 

Bella jumped a little bit at his voice, not expecting anyone to come up to her, but as soon as she saw him she couldn’t help but to laugh. He was dressed like a cowboy, and he looked absolutely ridiculous! He was wearing dark jeans and a lighter colored denim shirt, the shirt was accompanied with a bolo tie and the jeans were accompanied with a belt with a huge golden buckle. Atop his head there was a cowboy hat, too, really tying together the whole ensemble. 

After recovering for her laughing fit she was finally able to greet her friend, “Oh my god, what’re you wearing?” She giggled, holding her sides because they hurt from her laughing so much. 

Joe raised his eyebrows, his eyes widening, making it even more comical for Bella, “Hey, when in Texas, dress like a cowboy, everyone knows that Bella,” He frowned at her, chastising her a little bit, “Besides, I look the best out of everyone, the other guys can’t pull off Texas like Joe Gatto can,” Joe said with a wink. 

Bella perked up, “You’re all dressed like this? Oh no!” She giggled, just  _ thinking  _ about Sal and Murr dressed like Joe was, “I can’t wait to see that!” 

The man next to her shrugged, “Let’s not keep you waitin’ then,” And in the next second Joe had sprung to his feet and pulled Bella along with him. 

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to control myself, I’m going to laugh so hard Joe!” Bella exclaimed, just the thought of her friends, who are  _ hard core _ city people, dressed like Joe was hilarious to her! 

Joe led Bella inside the barn, where they were set up was different from where the guys would be giving lessons to families today, and it didn’t take her long to see Sal and Murr standing towards the monitors, looking like they were arguing over something. Bella nearly doubled down with laughter the second she saw the two of them though, they looked absolutely hilarious! Murr was dressed in light denim jeans and had a large belt just like Joe with a white shirt and a matching white hat, and Sal was dressed in brown pants with a blue and white flannel shirt, he too had a huge belt buckle and a dark brown hat on his head, and he was putting on thick white gloves as he talked to Murray. 

Sal was waving his arms around wildly as he and Murray argued over something that was most likely pointless, but Sal stopped once he spotted Bella and Joe walking towards him, “Bella, thank God!” He cried, marching over to her and slinging an arm around her shoulders, “We’ve been arguing about this all morning-” Sal began, pulling her towards where Murray was. 

As soon as she was next to both men, Murray came right up next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder, “Because you’re wrong Sal!” He argued. 

Sal let out a huff, “You’re ridiculous, you look like Woody from Toy Story like that!” 

Bella couldn’t help but laugh as she realized what they were arguing over, leave it to the two of them to argue about who looked better in their ‘costumes.’ “I think you both look very out of place, so having me here isn’t going to help,” She grinned at her friends. 

“Yeah, but who looks  _ better _ ?” Murray asked, sounding very insistent. 

That’s when Joe decided to interject, “They’ve been going about this all morning, just put an end to to Bella, so the rest of us don’t have to suffer through it!” Joe groaned, rolling his eyes. 

“Fine, fine, if I had to pick… No- Joe why can’t you pick!” She shot at him. 

Joe looked affronted, “I did pick, I said Murr looked better,” He explained to her, pointing at his friend. 

Bella was about to say something when Sal cut her off, “ _ But _ , Q said I looked better, so you need to decide,” Sal instructed. 

She rolled her eyes and pulled away from her friends so she could step back and take a better look at them, “Okay, I get it… I’m going to have to go with… Murr, sorry Sal,” Bella shrugged, turning around to make her escape before Sal could start arguing with her. 

But just as she turned, she found herself coming right up against a denim clad chest, Bella was forced to throw her hands up to stop herself from running right into the body. “Oh, sorry!” Bella said, finally looking up to see Q standing in front of her, dressed just like his friends. 

Except he looked  _ good. _

He was wearing denim on denim, dark jeans with a matching dark shirt that was detailed with a red floral pattern, he had a huge buckle, but it wasn’t as obnoxious as the other guy’s, and it seemed to really work with his ensemble, and his hat was a dark black, looking really good against his dark hair. 

“You think that the Ferret looks better in  _ that _ ?” Q demanded, having heard the end of their conversation, apparently. 

Bella took a couple of steps back, recovering from her unexpected encounter with Q. “Uh, yeah, I think so, Sal just looks… uncomfortable. Sorry Sal,” She added, glancing back at her friend in order to gauge his reaction. She wasn’t surprised to see that Sal didn’t look all that happy at her at the moment. 

Q frowned, his eyebrows furrowing, “No way, no way in hell!” He argued, to which Sal looked very pleased, “You three must be fuckin’ blind,” He accused, gesturing towards Bella, Murr, and Joe. 

“You’re delusional, Q!” Murray said. 

The bearded man shook his head, “Fine, let’s prove it then, who looks better, me or you?” He asked Murr, but look like he expected all of them to answer. 

Bella couldn’t help but to let out a laugh, “How does that prove anything?” She laughed, looking to see if Joe and Sal agreed with her. 

Joe shook his head though, “No, I think that will prove a lot, Q you definitely look more cowboy than the rest of us,” He agreed, looking complacent, “For once in your miserable life, you managed to pull together a decent outfit,” Joe laughed, making the other friends laugh. 

Bella bit her lip, she wanted  _ out _ of this conversation, she didn’t need to give Q any reason to think that she thought he looked good. “Alright, I’ll catch up with you guys later, leave you to get ready and all-” She trailed off, starting away from the men. 

“No, no Bella, wait, you gotta answer Q’s question,” Murr insisted, grabbing her arm before she could slip away from their group. 

She sighed, looking anywhere but Q, “Well, uh, sorry Murr, but uh- Brian's definitely got you beat…” She trailed off, not noticing how Q’s face lit up at her words. 

Q chose to let out a hearty laugh then, practically skipping over towards Bella and throwing an arm around her shoulders in victory, “Hear that fellas? I got you  _ beat _ James!” He laughed. 

Sal and Joe were laughing too, while Murr sulked around, shooting Bella a side eye glare, all in good humor. “That is not fair!” Murr complained, but they could all tell he was fighting off a smile. 

“Fuck yeah it is,” Q argued back, still laughing a little bit, “Bella’s always been the best lookin’ out of all of us, so when it comes to this what she says goes,” He decided, his hand squeezing her shoulder. 

Bella’s face turned bright red, and she would’ve tried to leave again if it weren’t for Q holding her to him, “I don’t think that’s fair at all, you just think she’s the best looking ‘cause she’s a girl!” Murr argued once more, pointing at Bella and making her face head up even more. 

Sal rolled his eyes, “You’re so full of it Murr, she’d be the best lookin’ regardless, just cause Q used to talk about how hot she was doesn’t mean that he’s sayin’ this cause he wants to win, you look like a dork,” He laughed, not realizing how uncomfortable he made both Q and Bella. 

She couldn’t help but to glance up at Q from underneath his arm, he was starting to get red too, looking very uncomfortable, and his arm loosened from around her shoulders so she was able to take a step away from him. “Uh, I’m going to leave now, I think they wanna start filming soon,” Bella said, and before any of her friends could stop her again, she’s left, heading over towards the monitors so she could attempt to let the color leave her face. 

Thankfully, as soon as she had separated herself from the guys places were called and Joe and Sal were sent outside to go greet their group. Bella decided to watch their challenge go on for a little bit, she noticed standing with the crew was a group of people who looked like they might have worked on the ranch, so Bella decided to introduce herself. 

“Hi,” She said as she approached the two men dressed in the same fashion as her friends, but they looked like they wanted to be dressed like that, “I’m Bella, the locations manager for these guys, do you own this place?” Bella asked once she got their attention and offered them her hand. 

Both men shook her hand and introduced themselves, the taller of the two first, “I’m Robert, it’s nice to meet you, and no, I just work here, with the horses, nice to meet you Bella,” He smiled, and Bella couldn’t help but to smile back at him, he looked very sweet. 

The other man shook her hand next, “I’m Bill, I own the place with my family,” He introduced, he was a little bit older looking, but he looked like a nice man. 

“Well, thank you for letting us film here again, we really appreciate it,” Bella smiled, finding herself having to raise her voice a little bit as Q and Murr’s laughter rang out throughout the area, “Uh, are you guys fans of the show? Or is this all new to you?” She asked. 

Robert started to take over the conversation, “I’ve heard of it before but never really sat down to watch it, I gotta say though, these guys are pretty funny, they know nothin’ about being here though,” He grinned, tucking his thumbs into his pockets. 

Bella laughed, nodding as she did so, “Oh I can tell, we’re all from Staten Island, so what can you do?” She asked, gesturing towards where Q and Murr were standing giving instructions to their friends. 

Robert raised an eyebrow, “Guess that explains a lot, you knew ‘em before this then?” He asked, sounding genuinely interested. 

“Oh yeah, I went to high school with them, and just recently I got hired on this show, so we’re reconnecting and everything,” She explained, “But yeah, all born on Staten Island.” 

The taller man nodded, “Huh, interesting stuff then, so… What do you do for the show?” Robert asked. 

Throughout the rest of Sal and Joe’s turn, which was about a half hour long, her and Robert made polite small talk, and she was very happy to be able to talk to him! But not after long, Sal and Joe were done with their turn and apparently they had a plan to get Robert involved in the next challenge, “It was nice talkin’ to ya Bella, but I think I’m needed pretty soon, they want me in the show for a minute,” He told her, shaking her hand once more. 

Bella raised her eyebrows, “Oh boy, I can’t wait to see how that goes, do me a favor and don’t go easy on them, kay?” She grinned, not being able to resist. 

Robert smiled, showing her his perfectly white teeth, “You got it, I’ll catch you around then,” And then he left, heading over to where Joe and Sal had just arrived behind the monitors, that was now absent of the other two men. 

She decided that she would watch for a little bit, so she found a seat next to several of the other crew members, and watched the monitors. Murr and Q looked like they knew what they were doing under a first impression, but as soon as Sal and Joe started to instruct them on what to do, they were completely out of their element. 

It was hilarious! 

Bella was really laughing when Robert went out though with a horse from the ranch, and Murr tried to put a saddle on it, but he put it on backwards. She thought she was going to crack a rib from laughing so hard! And she only laughed harder when Robert cracked a joke to Q’s expense, she couldn’t calm herself down, she forgot how funny her friends could be! 

When Q and Murr were done filming Bella decided she’d be able to head back to the hotel with the first group of people, in order to get ready for the dinner that she was having with the crew that night. 

The bus and a black car were out front, and the bus was getting loaded with equipment, and was most likely going to leave at least an hour later, things just needed to get wrapped up. So, she figured she’d be able to get in the car which her friends were most likely going to be passengers in as well. 

She noticed the guys at the car and went over to them, they were still in their cowboy outfits, most likely costume crew gave them the clothes in the hotel and none of them though to bring a change of clothes, but for all she knew they could love dressing up like that! “Hey guys!” Bella called once she was close enough to them, “That was hilarious!” She told them. 

Joe frowned, stepping forward to meet her, “Hilarious? I don’t know about that boys, I thought we were going for sexy, Bam!” He shouted, clapping his hands and striking a ridiculous pose, which is outfit only served to make him look even more crazy than he already looked. 

Bella couldn’t help but giggle at him, he was insane! “Sorry Joey, but I don’t think you pulled it off, but that’s just my opinion,” She laughed, “That wasn’t my reason for coming over here though, I wanted to ask if I could catch a ride back to the hotel with you guys?” 

Immediately Joe fell out of his crazy pose and ushered Bella towards the van, “Of course, hun, there’s a middle seat with your name on it,” He said with a wink as Murr climbed into the front seat of the car and Joe got into the driver’s seat. 

Bella knew that she was going to be stuck between Sal and Q since she was the smallest, but if it meant getting back to the hotel earlier she didn’t care too much. Just as the three of them were about to get into the backseat, from behind them, Casey came running over. 

“Hey, hey wait up guys, is there enough room for me?” He asked as he reached the car. 

A frown found its way to Bella’s face, she knew she’d let Casey take the last spot in the car over her, there was more for her to do on set than there was for him, and he was so nice, she was just about to tell him that he could take her spot when Q started speaking instead. 

“Sure Case, I mean it’s going to be crowded, but Bella’s pretty small, she could sit on someone’s lap,” He decided. 

“Oh, no, that’s fine,” Bella said quickly, “Casey, you can take my spot, I can just wait for the bus, it’s no big deal-” She tried to argue but she was cut off once more. 

Sal waved a hand at her, “It’s not a big deal Bella, let’s just do that,” He decided, before climbing into the car, Casey following after him.

Finally, Q got into the car, leaving the door open so Bella could climb on top of him, “Come on Bell,” He called to her, patting his lap as an invite. 

She swallowed, her eyes not being able to tear themselves away from Q before she finally started to walk towards him. “Uh, how are we going to do this?” She asked once she reached the door of the car shuffling awkwardly on her feet. 

“Com’ere,” Q decided to take it upon himself to grab her by the hips and pull her into the car so she was sitting directly on his lab, before he shut the door behind her, effectively squishing everyone! 

Joe started the car up and waited for everyone to get ready before he pulled out of the lot. Q buckled himself in, same as Casey and Sal, and just as Bella was going to try to move to a more comfortable position on top of Q, his hands came up to her sides once more and he pulled her backwards so she was turned sideways slightly and she was sitting as close to Q as she possibly could be before his arms came around her waist to anchor her body to his. Bella was sure her face was bright red, so she was happy that most of the people in the car couldn’t see her. 

“Is this alright?” Q asked, shifting around underneath her for a moment as the car started to move. 

All Bella could do was nod, she was embarrassed, sitting on someone shouldn’t get her so red, but there was just something about Q that really got to her. Thankfully, the hotel wasn’t that far away, so she was sure that she wouldn’t be stuck there for too long! 

The guys started to joke around soon after they were on the road, talking about the challenges they just went through, and Sal was quick to bring up Robert’s quip to Q. “Oh my god and the guy that worked there,” Sal laughed, “He made a fool out of you!” 

Joe, Murr, and Casey were also laughing now, “Hey, that’s only cause I wasn’t prepared for him,” Q argued back, Bella could feel the vibrations from his chest as he spoke against her back, “Besides, he couldn’t take a girl from me, girls prefer guys from Staten Island,” He said, proudly. They all laughed at that again, and Bella joined, not being able to stop herself from laughing at her friends.

Murray turned around in his seat so he could attempt to get a better look at Q, “Come on Q, that guy could take a girl from any of us, you can’t deny that! Even Bella was talking to him,” Murray said. 

Bella could feel Q get rigid underneath her, “No way! That’s not the type of guy Bella would go for… right?” He asked, leaning sideways into Casey so he could look at her better. 

She shrugged, he was definitely cute, if he lived closer to her then maybe she’d go for something, but considering Texas was a plane ride away, she wasn’t planning on seeing him again, but he was certainly a good looking guy. “I’ll just say too bad he’s in Texas,” Bella told the men, to which the majority of the car let out surprised laughter. 

“I told you!” Murr shouted over the laughter. 

Bella couldn’t help but to giggle as well, “Maybe we can take him back to New York with us, huh?” She laughed. 

“Yeah,” Casey agreed, “We’ll swap him out with Murr, do you think anyone will notice?” He grinned. 

There was another bout of laughter from the car, until the only person who wasn’t really laughing spoke up, “I like Murr more than that guy,” He said, loud enough so everyone in the car could hear him. 

Murr spun around once more, “What the fuck is wrong with you man? Even I like him more than me!” He giggled, as the laughter in the car picked up again! 

Bella felt Q shrug, “I dunno, I just don’t get good vibes from him, you can’t blame me for that,” He explained. 

“Oh and you get good vibes from Murray?” Joe laughed. 

Q must’ve decided that arguing against his friends was pointless because after Joe’s quip he stopped talking, instead Murr and Joe just argued in the front seat until Joe pulled into the hotel parking lot. “Alright boys, and Bells, we’re here!” He announced as he pulled into a spot towards the back entrance of the hotel. 

Bella was the first person out of the car, Q following very closely after her and the rest of the guys following after them. “Are you guys going out tonight?” Bella asked once she was on her own two feet again, waiting for them all outside of the car. 

“Yeah, we’ll probably go get a few drinks or something,” Sal shrugged, he knew she was going to dinner with the crew tonight, most likely going to drink afterwards. 

Q didn’t know she was doing that though, “Wanna come with?” He asked, looking pretty hopeful. 

Bella shook her head as they walked to the back door, Q stepping forward to open the door for them all to walk through, “I can’t tonight, I’ve got other plans, thanks for the invite though,” She said gratefully as they entered the hotel and made it to the elevator, “That’s why I wanted to come back with you guys, so I could get ready a little bit earlier, since I didn’t get as much time this morning,” She explained. 

“Where are you guys going tonight?” Murr asked, pushing the ‘up’ button on the elevator so they could get lifted up to their floor. 

She had to shrug, “I know I made the reservations for the closing party and our meal tomorrow night, but this one’s a surprise to me, we’re going to take the bus and it’s gotta be big enough to fit us all, so must be someplace pretty nice,” Bella smiled, “Everyone second floor?” She asked once they were all in the elevator. 

“Uh, I’m third, actually,” Casey announced, stepping forward to press the third floor button. 

Once they reached the second floor they said their goodbyes to Casey, Bella too, even though he was going to dinner with her later. And then she had to say her goodbyes to her friends, “Alright, maybe I’ll see you guys later tonight then, if not, I’ll see you all bright and early tomorrow morning, right? Got more challenges to film and whatnot,” Bella grinned before giving each one of them their own hug. 

Murray was the first one to hug her, “See you later Bella, maybe if you get out of dinner early enough you can catch up with us for drinks later?” He suggested before heading down the hall to his room. 

Sal came next, their hug was quick, and he lent over and whispered in her ear, “If you’ve got any time at all in this trip, let’s hang out just the two of us, I need my Bella time,” He winked, which made Bella laugh and she hastily agreed. 

Q was after Sal, “Have a good time tonight Bella, text me if you need anything,” He offered, wrapping her up in his large arms before letting go of her and heading off towards his room. 

Joe was last, “Best for last, isn’t that right hun?” He asked, grinning as he pulled her into a hug. 

“You know me Joey, I’ll see you later ok? Don’t let them get too drunk!” She instructed, playfully poking him in the side. 

He laughed, pushing her away from him, “You know I can’t control them,” Joe said, starting down to his room. 

“But you can try!” Bella argued with a laugh, watching him walk down the hall until she turned and went into her room, to get some rest and get ready for the rest of her long night! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter but I had a lot of ideas for the next couple of chapters and wanted to get them up as soon as possible! But this is a busy week so hopefully I'll get another chapter up by this weekend! We'll see! Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

Bella freshened herself up as quick as she could, she wanted a couple of minutes to herself, to just be able to sit down and kick her feet up! Once she was out of the shower, she put her hair into a braid down her back and put on another outfit, light jeans and a light pink shirt that she was able to tuck into the pants, and accompanied it with her favorite pair of silver earrings. 

Then she settled herself on her bed and was able to click on her small television and relax against her pillows, finding herself fully at ease, feeling like a person  _ should _ feel on vacation! 

She sat there for a little while, watching several reruns of friends, before she felt her phone buzz. 

_ Sender: Casey Jost _

_ Bella! We’re going to head out soon, meet in the lobby in 5!  _

_ Sender: Bella  _

_ Thanks Casey, I’ll be down ASAP!  _

Bella turned off her phone and jumped off the bed, clicking off the television and slipping on her shoes. She ran into the bathroom quickly just to make sure she looked decent enough to be going out and after deciding she looked fine she slipped outside of her room, and went downstairs to meet up with the majority of the crew. 

“Bella, I was just about to text you,” Stephanie said once Bella emerged from the elevator, “The bus is going to be here any minute!” 

“Yeah, Casey texted me, I was in the know, don’t worry,” Bella laughed as the two of them joined the rest of the crew that was going out to eat. 

The bus arrived shortly afterwards and Bella found herself sitting next to Casey, chatting about just general stuff, she hadn’t got much of a chance to talk to him as a person, so there they were, him telling her about his wife and all that, it was really nice! 

“So where are we going again?” Bella asked the gray haired man sitting next to her. 

He just shrugged, “I’m not really sure, I’m just along for the ride, and the food,” Casey laughed, making Bella giggle a little bit too. 

“I guess we’ll both be surprised then,” She said, smiling. 

Once the bus arrived at their restaurant, Bella realized that she didn’t recognize the name of the place, despite all of her research throughout planning this trip, but she was certainly looking forward to trying something new! Someone had made a reservation for their larger group and they were seated as soon as they got in the restaurant. Bella wound up between one of the camera men, Max, and a member of the move crew, Rosie, two people who she’d met before but never really had the pleasure of talking too, so regardless she knew she was in for a good night! 

Dinner turned out to be really nice, the food was good, and the wine was even better. Bella was really glad she finally got the chance to really talk to people on set in an out of work environment, too! 

After dinner the decision was to go either back to the hotel or go out for drinks, and with an early call time to set the decision was unanimous, they decided to go back to the hotel and get some rest. So when they got back to the hotel everyone said their goodbyes and and goodnights and went their separate ways. 

Just as Bella got to the stairwell, the door was thrown open from the other side and, to her surprise, the four guys came stumbling out, laughing as they did so. 

“Bella!” Sal grinned as they practically ran into her, forcing her to take some steps back, “Are you still going to dinner?” He asked, gathering her up in a hug. 

Even though she was starting to feel tired, the sight of her goofy friends made her perk up immediately, “No, actually we just got back, they decided to call it a night,” She explained. 

Murray came up to meet her then, “Come out with us then, we were just going to catch a cab,” He told her, grabbing her by the hand to pull her away from the stairwell. 

Bella bit her lip, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to stay out too late, “I dunno Murray, I’m feeling pretty tired,” She told him, stopping him from pulling her even further. 

Joe groaned as he caught up to them, “Come on Bells, you don’t have to stay the whole night, just come for a little while,” He said in an attempt to convince her. 

She let out a sigh, they weren’t going to let her out of his one easily, “We’re not all going to fit in the cab, where’s that car you had earlier?” She asked, her eyes avoiding looking at Q because she knew if she met his eyes her face would light up like a light. 

But Q was making it hard for her to avoid him, “You didn’t mind before, we’ll make it work,” He said, a grin coming to his face as Bella finally looked at him. 

“The cab driver might mind though!” Bella argued after a brief hesitation. 

Q waved his hand dismissively as the guys started to walk towards the front of the building, Bella being ushered forward by Q’s hand on her lower back, “I’m sure they won’t mind if we slip him a couple of extra bucks,” He laughed, the guys joining him. 

“Well,” Bella said, moving forward on her own at that point, “I guess I’m not getting out of his, am I?” She asked, rolling her eyes as they walked outside. 

Sal grinned at her, “Not tonight Bells, we’re going to par-tay in Texas!” He announced. 

Not long after they were outside a cab was picking them up, Bella hovered around the cab for a moment while Q talked to the driver, pulling out his wallet, before popping his head out, “We;re all good Bell, get in,” Q instructed, pushing his door wide open. 

Bella bit her lip, she’d much rather sit on anyone but Q, it would be much less embarrassing, so when she ducked her head down she noticed Sal sitting on the other side of the car and before Q could further coax her into the car on his side she slipped around the car and came to stand next to Sal’s side. Bella threw open the door to Sal’s side of the car and grinned down at him, “Mind if I sit here?” She asked. 

The man in question grinned widely, “Not at all Bells, come here,” He said, helping her get into the car and getting situated on top of him before shutting the door behind her. Q closed his door too, “Sorry Bri,” Sal smiled mockingly, “Bella’s gotta take her time with each of us!” 

Bella couldn’t see how Q responded, but for a brief moment the car was silent before Joe turned spoke up from the front seat, “Well boys, and Bella, we’re going to live it up in Texas tonight!” He grinned, spinning around so he could see them. 

Chatter started up again after that, the cab driver was interested in where they were from and that stuck up some conversation, too! 

Finally, they reached the bar that the guys had chosen and they left the cab, heading into the bar. They went to the barstools immediately, there wasn’t five seats right next to each other, so Sal and Bella ended up a couple of seats away from the rest of the guys. 

“Wish you guys would’ve let me change into something more appropriate,” Bella laughed once she was finally drinking her beer. 

Sal scoffed, “Come on Bella, you look smokin’ hot!” He grinned, taking a sip of his drink and winking at her. 

Bella laughed, “Jeez Sal, if I didn’t know any better I’d think you were in love with me,” She said, teasing Sal. 

He frowned, “I might get myself beat up if that was the case,” Sal muttered into his drink, “But don’t worry about how you look… I mean Q’s been checking you out since we ran into you,” Sal laughed. 

Bella nearly spat out her drink but she forced herself to swallow it before letting out a little shriek of “What?” Her head shooting over to where she knew Q was sitting, but her view was blocked by the people sitting between them. 

Sal was practically doubled over with laughter now, “Oh my god! You should’ve seen your face!” He cackled. 

She slapped him on the shoulder, “What the fuck Sal? You’re an ass,” Bella groaned, mentally slapping herself for having such a bad reaction. 

He was still laughing at her, “Couldn’t help it Bella, you should realize if you hang out with us we’re gonna make fun of you,” Sal explained, his laughter finally dying down but his huge smile was still on his face. 

Bella cracked a small smile, not being able to resist, “Alright, alright, you’re right it’s  _ all _ my fault for being friends with assholes,” She grinned, elbowing Sal in the side. 

She realized that she’d already finished her first drink, which wasn’t good because she had already had two glasses of wine at dinner and now she was really starting to feel the effects of it in her head, hopefully she wouldn’t have to stand up anytime soon! After several more minutes of talking so Sal, the people separating them from the other guys got up and Bella and Sal were able to take their seats. 

As soon as Bella stood up she felt her head spin and she was thankful to be sitting back down on the barstools this time in between Sal and Q. “Hey, I’ll take another two beers,” Q ordered once they were sitting down next to them. 

Once Q had his beers he slid one over to Bella, “Here you go Bell, I know we like the same stuff,” He said. 

Bella’s eyes widened, she wasn’t planning on having another drink, but she couldn’t condemn him to drinking both beers, so without putting much thought into it, she grabbed the bottle and took another swig of beer. 

As the five of them chatted and joked around, Bella hardly realized that she’d finished  _ another _ beer and her friends were now ordering shots. Not putting much thought into it, Bella downed her first shot, laughing after she did so, mainly at Sal’s reaction to his shot. 

“Let’s do another round!” Bella laughed, her previous decision to not drink too much flying out the window as she got more and more drunk. 

Sal groaned, “I’ll sit this one out, shots are not doing me good tonight,” He said, pushing his shot glass away from him. 

Murr agreed, getting rid of his shot glass as well, “Yeah, I think I’m going to stick to beer for now,” He said. 

Before Bella could drunkenly berate her friends for not wanting to drink anymore, Q held up his shot glass and clinked it on the one that she was holding up, “Let’s do it,” He grinned, calling the bartender back over to refill their glasses. 

Bella grinned back at Q, at least there was someone who wanted to have a little bit of fun tonight! Once more the two of them clinked their glasses and threw their heads back and let the burning liquid slide down their throats. 

“I want another drink,” Bella announced, looking for their bartender. 

Q laughed, “Me too, hey, bartender!” He called, slinging an arm around Bella’s shoulders, “Get us two screwdrivers please,” He requested, throwing a twenty dollar bill down on the bar. 

Bella smiled when she got her drink, and she greedily started drinking again once she got it, laughing every once in a while as she did so. “Jeez, Bells,” Murr commented, “I never thought you were a lightweight,” He teased. 

Bella shook her head, leaning over Q partially so she could get closer to Murr, “I’m not! I had three glasses of wine before you made me come here,” She proudly announced, retreating back to her own space with minor help from Q. 

“Quinn’s not looking too hot either,” Sal teased, as his friend finished another drink. 

Joe lent forward over the bar so he could see Sal better, “He’s been doing shots since we got here,” He rolled his eyes comically. 

Bella had finished her drink too, and she finally took a look around the bar, there wasn’t much going on, actually she was pretty bored. She was going to suggest they go somewhere else when suddenly, they were approached from behind. 

“Hi,” A cheery, young voice said from behind them, catching everyone’s interest, “ You’re the guys from the TV show right? Impractical Jokers?” A younger woman asked, she looked like she was barely 21, if even, standing next to her was another girl who looked the same age. 

Q looked like he was going to respond, but instead he was only able to hiccup and then he started laughing, making Bella laugh too. Joe turned around, “Yeah, hun, what can we do for you?” He asked, since he was the only sober one of the guys. 

The two looked very excited, “Could we just take a picture?” The other girl asked, pulling out her phone. 

The guys were quick to agree to a quick photo shoot, and Bella wasn’t quite sure if she should get up so she wasn’t in the picture, but neither girl said anything about it so she decided to stay put. The girl with the phone ran up to Sal’s side, and the other girl went up to stand in between Q and Murray. Bella watched as the girl next to Q put her arm around him, grinning widely as her friend took the picture. Bella wasn’t looking at the camera though, she was watching as Q put his arm around her in response, smiling widely. Before Bella knew what she was doing, she slipped off the bar stool, straight on top of Q. 

His reaction was near immediate for someone who was so drunk, his hands moving forward to catch her, so that she was fully leaning on him, “Shit Bell, you alright?” He asked, pulling her up so that she could rest her head on his shoulder. 

Bella snorted, then she was full on laughing, she didn’t even notice that the two girls had left, Q started to laugh with her. 

“You guys are fuckin’ drunk,” Sal grinned, watching his two friends fall over each other. 

Once Bella was back in her seat she found herself pleased to realize that they were alone again, “I am not,” She said to Sal, finally realizing that he was speaking about her, “Q is!” Bella laughed, throwing Q under the bridge. 

Q shook his head, “Fuck off, you’re more drunk than I am,” He grinned, shoving her gently. 

Bella let out a puff of air, “No, you had more shots than me!” She argued, still smiling. 

“I’m hungry,” Murray perked up, “D’you guys know if there’s a Denny’s around here?” He laughed, and the guys laughed too, leaving Bella to think about why there would be a Denny’s in Texas?

“Denny’s isn’t in Texas, the waffle house is though,” Bella told her friend, feeling very proud that she was able to recall that information. 

Q put down his empty glass, “Fuck it, let’s get some fuckin’ waffles,” He decided, standing up and leaving the bar before anyone could agree with him. 

Joe was quick to follow, “Come on fellas, I’m not missing out on waffles,” He decided, not waiting for the rest of them to get ready. 

Bella wasn’t too hungry, but there was no way she was mission out on waffles! “Come on, come on, come on,” Bella laughed, grabbing onto both remaining men and pulling them towards the exit where they found Q had already hailed a cab and was talking to the driver. 

When she saw Q, Bella dropped Sal and Murr’s hands and ran up to him, “Is he going to take us to Waffle House?” She asked, excitedly. 

Q nodded, “Fuck yeah, Bell, Waffle House here we fuckin’ come!” He grinned as Sal got into the passenger seat and the rest of them filed in the back seat. 

“I can’t believe we’re going to Waffle House,” Bella marveled, making the guys laugh. 

“You better believed it Bella, cause we’re going!” Joe laughed, “Waffle House!” He cried out, to which everyone in the car copied him. 

It wasn’t too long before they were sitting down at Waffle House, eating huge waffles! Bella was coerced into getting a waffle too, being assured that someone would eat what she couldn’t, and soon enough, Murr had taken her food off her hands and was shoveling it down. 

Bella was smiling as she sat in the booth, crammed between Q and Murr, she was just so happy to be with her friends, “I love you guys,” She mumbled, her head lolling to the side to rest on Murr’s shoulder. 

Murr quickly wrapped an arm around her in response, “We love you too, Bella,” He grinned, shoveling more waffles into his mouth. 

Q snorted, “James you look like you could be her fuckin’ dad,” He laughed, making fun of his friend. 

Murr looked shocked, “How do you think you look then, I’m younger than you are!” He argued, pointing an accusatory finger at him. 

Bella’s brain could barely keep up with their quick speed, she was started to feel better, but she was still very drunk, “Guys, guys, guys, you both look old,” Bella laughed, thinking that she understood what they were talking about, “You’re just old men,” She laughed. 

“Nah, I look young enough, it’s the fact that he’s got no hair, the ladies love the hair,” Q argued, running one of his hands through his hair grinning widely. 

Joe was chuckling, “Q, ladies like hair like Sal’s, not like yours, you just look homeless!” He teased, much to Sal’s delight. 

“Fuck you, at least I don’t look like a fuckin’ hedgehog,” He frowned, gesturing towards Joe’s spiked hair. 

Bella was laughing, but she wasn’t quite sure why, she was just having a good time with her friends, “I think my hair is nice,” She added, twirling her fingers through her hair. 

Sal recognized his friends drunk confusion, “Yeah, your hair is lovely Bells, but what do you think of Q’s hair, do you like long hair on guys?” He asked,  slow enough for her to finally understand what they were talking about. 

“Oh,” She said, turning her head so she could get a better look at Q through heavily lidded eyes, “I think it’s nice,” Bella smiled, her arm stretching out so she could rest it on Q’s shoulder and let her fingers run through his hair. His hair wasn’t as course as she had thought it would be, and it wasn’t tangled either, except for the occasional quick snag of the finger, her hands slid through his hair easily. 

“Well, that settles that,” Sal said, ending that argument, and the guys were quick to start talking about something else as soon as they had ended the conversation. 

Q, on the other hand, was frozen, sure he was still drunk, but he wasn’t nearly as out of his as Bella was, and she was sitting there, running her hand through his hair, her fingers scraping at his scalp every once in a while. He wasn’t going to not enjoy it though, he just didn’t want her to stop anytime soon! 

He scooted a little bit closer to Bella, so her arm was now resting around both his shoulders and her hand could get the other side of his head, and she happily kept going, like she didn’t even know she was still doing it. 

“Are we going to call it a night?” Murr asked, being the last one to finish eating since he’d taken Bella’s food too. 

The vote was pretty unanimous, the only one that didn’t care to leave too much was Q, but he didn’t say that, and the group left the booth, leaving enough cash to cover their meal and a tip before going back outside to try and get a cab. 

Bella stumbled when she stood up, catching herself on the table before laughing again. “You alright Bella?” Q asked as he got up out of the booth behind her. 

“Can you help me?” She asked, fighting off a yawn as she reached up to Q. 

He grinned, “Sure thing babygirl,” Q agreed, and feeling ballsy, he decided he’d try to get something out of the situation, “Only if you play with my hair again on the ride back to the hotel,” he bargained.

Bella nodded in agreement and reached out to him once more, he was quick to respond, slipping his arm around her waist and pulling her up against him, bearing most of her weight. 

The five of them went out into the street and hailed a cab almost immediately, Sal got the driver to agree to let Bella in sit in the back with them for a couple extra bucks and soon enough they were speeding back towards their hotel. Bella ended up laying across Murr, Joe, and Q in the backseat, her feet resting on Joe and her head on Q’s lap, her hand reaching up so she could tangle her fingers in his hair once more, like she’d promised. 

Q closed his eyes, content with the feeling of Bella’s fingers once more against his scalp, and he didn’t open them until she stopped moving, her arm falling down his body to wrap around his waist, her head turning so she was laying on his stomach now. 

He smiled when he noticed that she was asleep, and shifted underneath her, so that she could put her arms around him more comfortably, and he could slip a hand into her hair, repaying the favor. When they reached the hotel, Bella stirred a little bit, but didn’t wake up, and none of them really wanted to wake her up either, so Q pulled her out of the car and hoisted her up into his arms, carrying her bridal style through the hotel and into the cramped elevator. 

“Goodnight guys,” Q said once they all got out of the elevator, “I’ll make sure she’s good,” He assured his friends before they all went off their separate ways, Q ending up in front of Bella’s door, which was closest to the elevator. 

He set her down on her feet, still supporting her full weight, but needing her to wake up, “Bella, wake up baby girl,” he prompted, jostling her gently until she started to mutter something Q couldn’t understand, “Where’s your room key?” 

Bella’s eyes slipped open slightly, just so that she could peer up at Q, “In my pocket,” She told him, her eyes closing again and her head falling forward to rest on his chest. 

Q wasted no time in getting to work , slipping his hand into her back pocket and taking his time with it before he pulled out her room key and slid it in the door, picking her up once more and bringing her inside her room, setting her key down on the bedside table. “You need to get changed,” He told her, not setting her down on the bed yet, in case she passed out on him. 

“Uhhhh okay,” Bella muttered, lifting herself off of Q and trudging over towards her dresser, opening the drawers, grabbing some clothes and then retreating into her bathroom, leaving Q to wait for her, his head starting to clear the more he calmed himself down, he always was good as sobering up quickly. 

When Bella left the bathroom she was wearing a large loose fitting top and either really short pajama pants or just her underwear, Q couldn’t tell, and she looked like she was going to collapse on the bed, but she resisted since Q was still in the room with her. 

“Thanks for helping me back Brian,” She smiled, walking over to the larger man and slipping her arms around him in a grateful hug. 

She smelled like beer, Q noted, and as he got closer to her he could tell that her hair smelt like vanilla, he didn’t want to let her go, but he was sleepy, and she was sleepy, so after a moment, he released her, “Anytime Bella, let’s just hope we’re not hungover tomorrow,” He groaned. 

Bella laughed loudly, clearly still drunk, “I don’t like those,” She mumbled, backing away from Q towards her bed before flopping down on it, exposing the bottoms of her shorts that she was wearing. 

He cleared his throat, “Well, uh, goodnight then, Bella, I’ll see you in the morning, call me if you need anything tonight,” Q offered, heading towards the door as Bella situated herself underneath her covers. 

“Night Q, thank you,” She grinned, her voice coming out quietly. 

Q opened the door, “Sleep well,” He said before shutting the door behind him and heading off towards his room, putting an end to his long day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! :)


	11. Chapter 11

Bella’s alarm clock got her up at 7 in the morning, but she wished she could just lay in bed forever, she had an unbelievably splitting headache. Slowly, she got herself up out of her bed, thankful that she didn’t have to be on set until 9, which meant she had about an hour and a half to get ready, and upon realizing she smelled like strong beer, she threw herself in the shower, scrubbing every inch of her body. 

They were doing the second challenge today, which Bella was happy with since it was only one challenge she’d be able to head back to the hotel earlier, but right now she was doing anything but enjoying herself. 

After her shower she found that she felt a little bit better, but her head was still killing her, and she was sad to realize that she didn’t pack any Advil, which meant she’d just have to deal with her problem herself. 

At 8, Bella dragged herself downstairs to get some breakfast, deciding that she couldn’t go without eating today, no matter how much she didn’t want to move. When she got downstairs she found Joe and Sal sitting at one of the tables in the corner of the room and she pulled up a chair next to them, “Morning guys,” She muttered, sitting herself down before getting her food so she could talk to her friends. 

“Morning Bella,” Joe greeted her, taking a sip of his orange juice, “how are you feeling?” He grinned, he probably knew damn well that she wasn’t feeling good in the slightest. All he got in response from her was a groan, as she put her hands in her head, where the two guys responded with a laugh, “Here I’ll go get you some food, what do you want,” Joe asked, standing up. 

She peeked up at him between her fingers, “Oatmeal and OJ would be perfect, please,” Bella asked before Joe nodded and set off to get her food, leaving her and Sal alone, “Sally, what even happened last night? I don’t remember most after the shots, just that we went to Waffle House… I think,” She told him. 

Sal scooted his chair closer to hers, so he could start rubbing at her back, “That’s pretty much all we did, after we ate dinner we just went back to the hotel, you fell asleep on the guys in the cab, and Q carried you back to your room, you didn’t miss much,” He told her, his hand working against her back comfortingly. 

Bella could hear a plate get set down in front of her and she picked up her head to see that Joe had returned, “Thanks Joey, do you remember me missing out on anything last night? Sal just filled me in a little bit,” She asked him, taking the orange juice and greedily sipping it down before turning her attention to the oatmeal. 

Joe shrugged, going back to his bacon, “Not much, I mean other than you and Q drunkenly flirting the whole night…” He trailed off. 

Her head shot up to look at Joe, her head immediately throbbing when she made the abrupt movement, “Ow,” She groaned, taking a minute to relieve the pain before looking back up at Joe, “What?” She asked, hoping he would understand what she needed clarified. 

Joe seemed to understand what she was asking, but he found it amusing, “You guys were both piss drunk, and have you ever seen the way that guy looks at you, of course you were going to flirt!” Joe laughed, and Sal hesitantly chuckled too. 

Bella took a deep breath in, but she didn’t want to pursue the topic any longer, so she decided to drop it, instead she silently finished her oatmeal and OJ while Sal and Joe talked about some of their ideas for the shoot today. 

Before long it was 8:30 and they were meeting Q and Murr in the lobby. Murr looked awake and energized as always, which Bella normally found very cute, but today all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and go back to sleep, and Murr’s excitable energy would be anything but calming. Q, on the other hand, looked just as bad as she did, his hair was tousled and his eyes looked very sunken, she was sure he was hungover too as he pulled his sunglasses down over his eyes. 

“Morning bitches,” Sal greeted, smirking when he noticed his friend’s predicament. 

Murr bounced up and down on his feet, slipping his hands into his pockets, “Morning guys, how you feeling Bella?” He asked politely. 

Bella just groaned and shook her head, “Let’s just get to set, sooner this is over, the sooner I can go back to bed,” She groaned, and she noticed Q give an appreciative nod of his head. 

They found their way back out to the rental car they took to set yesterday, Joe ended up driving with Sal next to him, which put Q, Bella, and Murr in the backseat, Bella of course being the one forced to take the middle seat. 

Their ride to set was a little bit longer that day, they were filming in a western style shop which meant that Bella would hopefully be able to rest up for a little bit, and then they were going to a bar setting where she might even be lucky enough to get a drink, that would be a surefire way for her to cure her hangover. 

Once they arrived at the store the guys exited the car, Bella following closely behind, and they were directed to wardrobe, most likely going to get suited up in some cheesy western outfits like they had the other day. Bella split off to go find somewhere to sit in quiet for a while, but once she got towards the back of the store she realize that the likelihood of her finding a quiet space was little to none. 

For some reason, the crew was exceptionally chatty that morning, as soon as Bella got herself situated comfortably, the makeup artist on set, Judy, approached her. “Heya honey, how are you doing this morning?” She greeted, sitting down next to her. 

Bella didn’t have the heart to respond in grunts and minimal words like she did with the guys, so she straightened herself out and smiled, “Morning Judy, I’m good, how are you?” She replied, and by the look on her face she could tell Judy thought Bella was lying. 

“Are you sure? You don’t look so hot… I’ve got some advil in my purse, it’s yours if you want it,” Judy offered, holding up her obnoxiously pink handbag. 

Bella bit her lip, “Yeah, actually, I’d love some,” She said gratefully. 

Judy gave her the bottle and Bella was quick to grab it from her and take out two small pills, swallowing them dry as soon as they were in her hand. “You must’ve really needed that,” Judy teased, “If you need more later let me know, I gotta go make those boys look good for television, I’ll see you later hon,” Judy smiled and stood up, heading over to the costume area. 

After Judy, Bella was left in silence for a little while, her headache starting to fade as she sat there in silence, until she heard someone sit down next to her. She peaked out from behind her hands to see that Q had taken the open space next to her. He was dressed up again, and if it weren’t for the grimace on his face, she might’ve thought he looked even better than he did the day before. Q had gone for the denim on denim look again, the colors were lighter than yesterday, and he had a brown leather vest too, the black hat from the other day was sticking with him as well, she couldn’t help but wonder if he was planning on keeping it. 

“Mind if I sit down here for a minute?” He asked, relaxing into the seat before she had the chance to answer. 

“All yours…” Bella muttered. 

They sat in silence for a couple minutes, the other guys were most likely still in wardrobe and makeup, and eventually Bella found herself looking at Q again. Her thoughts wandered back to her conversation with Joe that morning, and she tried to recall if she had flirted with him last night… she didn’t think so, but she very well could’ve. She did think he was conventionally attractive, and if she thought so when she was sober, maybe when she was drunk she thought so as well, and when she was drunk she wasn’t inebriated by common sense! 

Q had changed since high school, a lot, that’s where her train of thought went next. In high school he was a complete ass to her most of the time, their friends never saw it and she didn’t have the heart to tell them about it. Q would constantly tease her, but not like the other guys would, he would start out friendly enough, but for some reason whenever they were with their friends he would turn downright mean. At first she put up with him, but eventually it all became too much to her and she had to stop talking to him all together. 

The most vivid memory she had was from his school’s junior prom. Sal had asked her to go with him and of course she agreed, happy to go with one of her best friends! Q had invited a blonde cheerleader from Bella’s school, and they all knew that he was just trying to bang the girl, she annoyed their whole group and they were all hoping that Q would drip her after he got what he wanted anyways! 

As Bella observed Q, she couldn’t help her thoughts drift back to that night, many years ago. 

_ Bella and Sal danced the night away, they danced together, danced with their friends, and even danced by themselves at some points in the night, and by the time the night was almost over, she was exhausted! Bella told Sal she was going to sit for a moment, he offered to get her some punch, but she declined, saying she wasn’t thirsty and would rejoin him sooner rather than later.  _

_ She was happy to watch her friends having a good time on the dance floor from where she sat at their table. Murray had brought his girlfriend to prom and the two of them had been all over each other the entire night. Joe had brought a girl from Manhattan who he’d met through his job and instantly the two of them hit it off, looking more than happy to be dancing with each other.  _

_ While she was watching her friends, she didn’t even notice when Q had sat down next to her, watching her before he decided to speak up, “Sally as good of a dancer as you hoped?” Q asked, using the nickname she’d affectionately given Sal.  _

_ Bella jumped, not expecting him to be behind her, but she was quick to regain her composure, “Uh, yeah, he’s great actually, what about Kathy? Everything you ever expected?” Bella responded, attempting to keep conversation light.  _

_ Q shrugged, “She’s alright,” He murmured, picking at his fingernails, “It’s getting a bit annoying having her around,” He confessed, much to Bella’s surprise,, she was always the last one to hear about Q’s love life, and never from him!  _

_ “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Bella said, taking another sip of her punch and smiling as her eyes drifted back over to where Sal was standing, he was now entertaining a group of people with his dancing. Q’s eyes followed hers and he grimaced when he realized she was smiling at Sal.  _

_ “Well,” Q said, getting Bella’s full attention once more, “I didn’t come over here for you to ignore me, I was going to tell you that the next song’s the last slow one of the night, and I’m giving you the chance to have that last dance with me,” He grinned, looking very proud of himself.  _

_ Bella had to fight the urge to roll her eyes, he had to be crazy if he thought she’d say yes to a proposal like that! “Thank you for that generous offer,” She couldn’t help but to mock, “But I promised Sal the last slow dance already, I guess I missed my chance, hmm?” She replied sarcastically.  _

_ Q frowned and opened his mouth to respond, when his blonde date, Kathy, suddenly flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and slipping up onto his lap before smacking her lips onto his, “Q,” She whined, “Come dance with me, the prom’s almost over!” She said, and then she noticed that Q was sitting next to Bella. “Baby, what’re you doing with her, you don’t even like her,” Kathy said, her voice lowering but not making an effort to hide her words from Bella.  _

_ This time Bella did roll her eyes and she was just about to leave, she’d just go hang out with her friends again, but Q’s next few words froze her in place.  _

_ “Calm down baby, you know I don’t like her, I just needed to take a breather, besides, she’s  _ nothing _ compared to you, look at you, you’re gorgeous,” He winked, grabbing her around the waist and kissing her once more.  _

_ Bella was shocked, she was nothing? He called her nothing? She couldn’t believe he’d said that about her, right in front of her face! Still recovering from his harsh words as the couple got up to get ready for the last dance, Bella stood up suddenly, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill, “Really Quinn?” She called, getting their attention as she marched over to Q to get face to face with him, “You sit here and ask me to dance with you then you fucking call me nothing?” Bella nearly shouted, “I’ve tried to get along with you for the sake of our friends, but you have never been nice to me, since the first day I met you, you’ve been awful, so I’m fucking done,” She fumed.  _

_ Q stepped forward to meet her, like he was going to say something, but froze as he watched a tear trail down her cheek and slip out of his sight under her chin.  _

_ “Fuck you Quinn, leave me alone,” Bella ground out, her voice cracking before she spun on the heel of her food and ran from the gymnasium.  _

_ Bella didn’t noticed that Sal was watching the two of them argue and had immediately followed her out of the gym, her only goal was to make it to the bathroom without anyone seeing her. Sal knew the most about Bella and Q’s dislike of each other, and when he caught the end of their conversation he gave his friend a hard glare as he rushed out after his upset prom date.  _

_ She knew it was cliche. Crying in the bathroom on prom night, but since no one at this prom had done it yet, someone had to, Bella just never thought that it would be her. Hearing the door get thrown open behind her, she moved to hide in one of the stalls until the person left, but upon turning around she came face to face with Sal. In seconds, Bella was in his arms, and he was rubbing her back, comforting her best he could, “Do you wanna talk about it?” He asked, pushing some loose hairs away from her face.  _

_ Bella shook her head, “No, I’m sorry Sal, go enjoy the rest of your night, I’ll just call my dad to pick me up,” She told him, straightening herself out, “Go have your slow dance with a pretty girl out there.”  _

_ Sal didn’t leave, “No way, Bells, you’re my date, the only person I’m going to slow dance with tonight is you,” He smiled at her, coming up behind her as she attempted to fix her makeup in the mirror.   _

_ “I’m sorry Sal, but I can’t go back in there tonight-” She started.  _

_ Sal shook his head, “I’m not either, come on,” He instructed, taking her by the hand and pulling her away from the mirror. He pulled her down the deserted hallway, the music from the gym getting quieter and quieter until they reached the parking lot where Sal had parked his tiny white car earlier.  _

_ “What are you doing?” Bella asked as Sal got in the driver’s seat and turned on the radio.  _

_ He got back out of the car when he found the song he was looking for, and immediately he grabbed her hand again and pulled her up to him, putting his hands on her waist and waiting for her to catch on, “We’re having our dance,” He told her as he started to slowly sway to the music.  _

_ Bella felt tears well up in her eyes, but she wasn’t going to let herself cry again, she didn’t know what she’d done to deserve such a sweet friend, “Thank you Sal,” She smiled.  _

_ They danced until the song was over, then Sal walked her over towards the passenger side of his car and opened the door for her before he got into the driver’s seat and rolling down the windows.  _

_ “Sal, I don’t think I can handle being around Q anymore, it’s too much,” She confessed, “I know he’s your best friend, but I can’t do it, and I’m not going to make you choose, Sal-” He cut her off.  _

_ “Bella, I care about you and Bri the same, don’t you dare think I’m going to stop coming round cause you had enough,” He told her, “And Joey and James will agree, we can work around this,” He assured her.  _

_ She let out a sigh, she didn’t want to make this hard for him, for any of them, but she just wouldn’t let Q hurt her again, “Are you sure? I don’t want to make things uncomfortable,” She said.  _

_ Sal nodded, “One hundred percent, we love having you around, and your relationship with Quinn isn’t going to change that,” He promised.  _

_ Before Bella could stop herself she was leaning over the center console, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Just as Bella was going to pull away she heard heavy footsteps outside Sal’s car an a loud declaration of “For fuck’s sake!” The two of them let go of each other to look for the noise.  _

_ Bella’s eyes widened to see Q stomping away from Sal’s car towards his own small car, Kathy following behind him like an obedient dog. She felt Sal grab her hand as they watched the couple, Q got into his car fast as possible, absolutely slamming his door shut and speeding out of there seconds after Kathy had gotten the passenger door shut.  _

_ “You good?” Sal asked, giving her hand a squeeze.  _

_ She nodded, “Yeah, I’m good,” Bella assured her.  _

Bella shook her head, not wanting to remember that night. Q was a lot nicer now, they had grown up, so of course he was, but there was still a small part of her that just couldn’t find it to trust him. He was nice to her though, albeit a little annoying every once in a while, and they still bickered, but he wasn’t mean to her. 

Bella was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn’t notice Q had cracked his eyes open and could see her looking at him, “Enjoying the view?” He grinned, looking all smug. 

She was immediately snapped out of her thoughts, “Huh?” She managed to get out, feeling flustered, “Sorry… I was just thinking,” She finished lamely. 

Q grinned, superiorly, “You don’t have to deny it Bella,” He flirted, leaning towards her, “No woman has been able to resist my charm,” Q grinned. 

Bella fought back a laugh, “Keep telling yourself that Brian,” She grinned, not being able to help herself, “So, how are you feeling?” Bella added. 

He groaned, his cocky attitude immediately deflating, “Like someone shot me in the head, I’m not going to do shot again… for at least a week,” Q moaned, rubbing at his head. 

“What about you, you were pretty drunk last night,” He commented. 

Bella shrugged, “I’m getting there, Judy gave me some advil a little while ago so that’s helping,” She said, feeling bad for the man next to her, “I can ask her for more if you want,” Bella offered , moving to stand. 

Q stilled her with a hand on her shoulder, “No, s’fine, I’ll ask her later, just chill for now,” He instructed, his hand sliding back down to his side when she relaxed. 

“Alright,” She agreed, “are the guys almost ready to start filming?” She asked, not wanting to sit next to him silently anymore. 

He responded with a shrug, “Maybe, I dunno, Sal was busy preening himself when I left, Joe was just getting started with hair, and Murr was finishing getting dressed,” He told her. 

Bella nodded, “I like the outfits, it’s fun to see you guys wearing them,” She told him, gesturing towards his get up, “Even though you guys look so out of place,” Bella laughed. 

Q frowned, “Hey, I look good like this,” He argued, “I’d like to see you have to dress like this and make it look as good as I do!” Q challenged. 

Once more, Bella had to fight back her laughter, “Keep telling yourself that Brian,” Bella said, swatting him on the arm, “I’ve totally got you beat,” She crossed her arms over her chest. 

“Here, let’s try this then,” Q said, and next thing she knew, her vision was gone as a large black hat slid over her eyes.

Q laughed as Bella rushed to pull the hat up over her eyes, so she could see again. Bella pushed it back so it was resting in the right place atop her head now, “Jeez, your head is huge,” Bella teased, “And see, I do look better in this than you do,” She had no clue what she looked like but she wasn’t going to let him win that argument. 

He smiled, much to Bella’s confusion, “You’re right actually, it’s cute,” He decided, offhandedly, reaching out to tilt the hat even further back so she so he could see her confused look. 

Quickly, Bella took his hat off and put it between them, hoping Q couldn’t see the red that came to her cheeks, “Uh, yeah… told ya so,” She muttered, her previous gusto diminishing. 

They fell into silence for a minute afterwards before Q cleared this throat, “I guess I should start getting ready to film,” He decided. 

Bella waved bye to him and then, since she was feeling better, she decided to go find a place to watch them for a little while. She found Stephanie sitting in front of the monitors drinking a cup of coffee, “Morning,” Bella greeted, “Is this seat taken?” 

Stephanie shook her head and Bella took the seat, the two of them falling into conversation easily, until they started filming again. Sal was first, he was dressed in denim like Q, and looked much better and more comfortable than he had the day previous. He went out there and had some funny bits, Bella started laughing when Q had to give a ‘Texas welcome’ to a customer who cursed him out afterwards, and that was the end of the challenge, to Sal’s delight. 

The crew started to set up for Joe’s turn next, and that’s when Murr came over to Bella. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a bright red, white, and blue shirt, looking incredibly cheesy, “Hey James,” Bella greeted, “How’s it going?” 

Murray smiled, “It’s good, I wanted to see if you were feeling better, I brought you a water,” He told her, handing her the full bottle.

Bella was so grateful as she accepted the bottle, “Thanks Murray, you’re the best,” She took a few greedy sips from the bottle, “You excited for your turn today?” She asked. 

He shrugged, “Yeah, I just don’t wanna lose in Texas,” He confessed. 

Bella couldn’t help but laugh, “No one does, I’ll be rooting for you then,” She told him. 

Joe’s turn came next, Murr had to excuse himself to go join his friends and Bella decided that she’d take the time to walk around the area that the store was located, since she was in Texas, she might as well enjoy it! 

Walking around the area, she realized that they were in a huge tourist area, there was at least four other stores that were very similar to the store that they were in. There was several places to get lunch too, and a cute clothing shop, which Bella spent a good amount of time in. By the time she’d made it back to set, Murr was just finishing up his turn, and then prep for Q’s turn started. 

“Hey Bella,” She heard someone call her when she arrived back on set, turning around she saw Joe walking up towards her, “After Q, we’re going to get food, if you feel up to it,” He offered. 

Bella smiled, “That would be great, I’m feeling much better,” She let him know. 

Joe grinned, “Great, I’ll add you to the list,” He let her know before heading back to his place by the monitors. 

When Q’s turn started, Bella found herself sat back down watching the filming happen again. His turn took the longest, they just kept making him do more and more. Bella found herself near tears when Q started to strip for one of the customers. He looked like a complete idiot! … A cute idiot- Bella shook her head, immediately getting rid of the thought. Well he was a good looking guy, she couldn't deny that, just because she thought he looked good didn’t mean anything, really. 

Even if she did think he was attractive that didn’t mean anything, she thought that Sal was attractive, but for some reason she didn’t feel the same when she thought Q looked good verses Sal. Her eyes were glued to the screen as Q kept going with his turn, doing a dumb dance in front of this poor customer, and despite her racing mind, she couldn’t pull her eyes away. 

Once Q’s turn was up, Bella was finally able to distract herself by talking to the some of the crew, and convincing them that she was able to help out, and then she was allowed to pack up some of the already broken down equipment, which she was grateful for. Bella kept herself so involved in putting the camera parts back into her bag that she didn’t even notice when someone came up behind her. 

“Bella,” Q’s deep voice rang out from behind her, making Bella jump, having been caught off guard, “Joe said you were coming out to lunch with us, we were just about to head out,” He said. 

Bella looked up at Q, gathering herself before standing up, “Right, yeah, lemme just grab my stuff and I’ll meet you guys at the car,” She let him know. 

“I’ll come with you,” Q decided, “The other guys aren’t outside yet,” He said, following Bella as she walked back to find the chair that occupied her stuff. “So, you were watching that right?” Q asked after a moment. 

She nodded as she threw her light coat over her shoulders and slipped her purse over her arm, “Yeah, most of it, you guys were pretty funny today,” Bella let him know, offering him a small smile. 

Q and her started off towards the outside of the store, so they could get to the car, “Hmm, so you enjoyed the show, huh?” He grinned, sounding very cocky. 

Her eyes widened, he caught her off guard, and she almost tripped herself up as they walked, but managed to maintain her composure and kept walking, “Uh, t-the show?” She asked, deciding to play dumb, instead. 

He was still grinning, maybe even wider now, and he was laughing, “Common, you had to be watching that!” Q said, nudging her in the side, much to Bella’s discomfort. 

Bella narrowed her eyes at him as he held the door open for her, deciding that she’d keep playing dumb, “Oh, wait you’re talking about the strip show  _ you _ gave, right? ...I’ve seen better,” Before Q could respond, Bella had given a subtle flip of her hair and walked out the open door, out of the corner of her eye noticing Q’s dropped jaw, which brought the smallest of smiles to her face. 

She reached the car, where the other guys were waiting for them and slipped into the back seat, moving over to make room for Q. “Hey guys,” Bella greeted, buckling herself in, “Where we going?” 

Sal was in the driver’s seat this time, Q and Joe were in the back with her and Murr got the passenger’s seat, “We were thinking about the barbecue place near our restaurant,” Joe told her, “I’m in the mood for some ribs,” He decided, rubbing his stomach. 

Bella laughed, “Sounds good to me, let’s get going then!” Arriving at the restaurant, Bella followed her friends inside and they were quickly seated in a booth. 

She was shoved in between Murr and Joe, “Hey Bella,” Murr grinned, turning to face her, “I almost forgot, I’ve got a discount for the spa tonight, if you wanna come?” He asked. 

Bella had to hold back a sigh, “James, I’d love that,” She grinned back, relaxing back into her seat at the thought of their ‘vacation’ finally feeling like a vacation! 

Q frowned from where he sat across from them, “Murr, I thought you told us about that,” he accused, looking like he was teasing Murr. 

Murray threw his hand up, “None of you guys wanted to go!” He argued, smiling as he did so, “You told me that you hate massages and you’d never be caught dead in a spa!” 

The older man raised his eyebrows, “There’s other things to do in a spa than just get a massage, and that was before you told us Bella was going,” Q shot back across the table. 

Bella felt her face flush, and she was thankful for the dull lighting in the restaurant, “I didn’t think that would change anything, but you missed your chance, it’s just me and Bella now,” he grinned, sounding victorious as he threw and arm around her shoulders. 

She couldn’t help but laugh at Murray, leaning into him, “You guys really missed out,” Bella mocked, sliding her arm around Murr in response, “We’re going to have a great night!” 

Joe pulled Bella away from Murr, “Alright lovebirds, that’s enough of that, I don’t wanna watch you two falling all over each other,” He teased. 

Soon after that, their food came and they were all chowing down on their meals, very content with what they were eating. “So, there’s two days left in Texas guys,” Bella said once they’d gotten their food, “What are you guys planning on doing?” She asked. 

Sal shrugged, “Dunno about me, but I’m surprised Quinn hasn’t blown all his money at the nearest strip club,” He laughed, jostling his friend, much to everyone’s amusement. 

Q pushed Sal back, “Yeah, yeah, funny man,” He let out a little sigh, “I’ll probably have a night in, since I’m still not feeling pretty shitty,” Q admitted. 

Murr laughed, wiggling his eyebrows, “Early night? Who’s the lucky lady?” They all laughed again, except for Q. 

“Jesus man, I’m just tired,” Q grinned, like he was joking, but Bella could tell he sounded somewhat annoyed, she was sure she was the only one who could tell, since her friends were all still jovial. 

Soon after, the group back in the hotel, Murray leaving Bella with the promise to meet her back at her room around 7:30 so they could head down to the spa together and Bella let herself back in her room, planning on taking a nap until she could enjoy her spa night with Murr! 


	12. Chapter 12

~~~~ Two days were left on their vacation, and the first of those two was spent finishing up filming, they were going to do a final challenge today, and then the loser would have to face their punishment. 

Bella arrived on set with the crew, feeling much better and much more awake since they didn’t go drinking last night! She helped unpack some equipment, and by the time the guys had arrived they were ready to start shooting for the day. She was really excited to watch this challenge, they were supposed to be wearing black out glasses and essentially blinding themselves, the prospect was hilarious. 

She settled herself behind the monitors as Murr was sent out into the area to have his turn first, she hadn’t gotten to say good morning to any of her friends yet, but seeing Murr’s final ridiculous outfit of the week made up for that, and it made her more excited to see them in person! His bright blue shirt popped out at Bella from the monitors, as he carefully wandered around the area, completely blind. 

She erupted in a fit of giggles when Murr started to ride the bull, he looked like a complete idiot! Her laughter was shared amongst the rest of the crew too, which made Bella laugh harder, it was just so dumb! 

Bella looked around at the crew members laughing along with her, but then her eyes wandered over to where her friends were set up, and they landed on Q, he was smiling widely, and he was looking right at her. She was quick to sober up when their eyes met each others, but she offered him a shy smile before bringing her eyes back to the monitor to watch Murray finish up his turn. 

Just as Bella suspected that Murray would be finishing up his turn, there was a big uproar from the three guys behind their monitor and Murray was called backstage for something. “I won?” Murr grinned as he came running into the back, “I can’t believe it!” He cried. 

Q was frowning, almost like he was moping, “Yeah, whatever, it was dumb,” He shuffled around, shoving his hands into his pockets. 

“Hey not our fault you made a stupid decision!” Sal laughed, looking very amused. 

Bella couldn’t help but to overhear their loud conversation, but she had no clue what happened, she must’ve missed something that they had agreed on. The crew started to pack up around her, so she decided she could greet her friends, finally! 

Quickly she leaped up and started over towards the four guys, “Hey, good morning everyone,” She greeted, running up towards Joe’s side and giving him a quick one armed hug before smiling at the rest of them, “That was pretty fast- what happened?” She asked, her curiosity getting the best of her. 

Q was still frowning, but he didn’t look as upset anymore, “I fuckin’ lost a bed that’s what happened, and now I lost the whole episode,” He groaned, “What the fuck am I going to have to do tonight guys?” 

Sal was grinning widely now, “You’ll see later Bri,” He teased, rubbing his hands together. 

Bella laughed at him, “Well, I guess that explains a lot about that,” She said, “Are you guys heading straight to the second location?” She asked, hoping she’d be able to catch a ride with them and not be forced to sit on a bus for another trip. 

“We were going to head out now, if you’re trying to use us to catch a ride,” Joe teased, shooting her a wink. 

Next thing Bella knew she was shoved in the middle of the backseat of their rental car between Joe and Murr, Q was in the passenger seat and Sal was driving, since Q wasn’t allowed to know where the location was, and they were on their way to pick up some fast food for dinner before heading to their next location. 

Soon enough the car was filled with food and McDonald’s brown bags as they dug into their meals. Bella had gotten a six-piece and a small fry, she wasn’t too hungry, but she knew if she didn’t have anything now, she’d be starving by the time the night was out. The men around her, on the other hand, got much more food than she did, and she even caught Murr trying to steal a chicken nugget from her, before she slapped his hand away. 

The guys and Bella had just finished eating when Sal pulled into the parking lot for their location that night, and Q let out a groan, seeing the word ‘rodeo’ in big letters outside of the building, “What the fuck is this?” He asked, having no clue what his punishment was. 

Bella couldn’t help but to laugh, which earned her a glare from the older man, but she only grinned at him, “Man, it must suck to lose in Texas,” She laughed once more as she slipped out of the car behind Murr so she was able to escape Q’s eyes. 

Once they made it inside the building, Bella had a few quick words with the owner, just to make sure that they’d still be able to use this location, and by that point the crew had arrived and on Bella’s okay, the started to set back up. 

Bella found herself sat next to Sal soon afterwards, as Judy was fixing up his makeup, since he’d already had some on for the first location. “Wanna give me any hints to what you guys are making Brian do tonight?” Bella asked, nudging Sal in the side gently, so he wouldn’t move too much and mess up his makeup. 

“Nope,” Sal declared, popping his ‘P’ and smirking at Bella before Judy snapped at him to keep still, “Sorry,” He muttered, bashfully. 

She giggled, “Alright, can’t blame me for asking though,” Bella shrugged. 

Judy finished up on Sal and said a quick goodbye to the duo before most likely going to find one of the other guys who were probably avoiding getting their makeup touched up. 

“How’s it going with Q?” Sal asked, suddenly. 

Bella furrowed her brow, she was surprised at such a question from Sal, “What do you mean?” She asked, curiously. 

The larger man shrugged, learning into Bella’s side a little bit, “I dunno, you guys getting on? I know he still annoys you, but he’s better, right? I mean, you’ve been smiling at him more than usual, that’s good, right?” He asked. 

Her face flushed a little bit, she didn’t realize that she had been smiling at him, “Uh, yeah I guess so, he’s definitely much nicer to me than he used to be, it’s just weird cause I don’t know him like I know you guys… I guess,” She finished, lamely. 

Sal nodded, “Good, that’s good. Maybe you’ll get to know him then,” He suggested, ending that conversation, “So,” He perked up, wiggling his eyebrows, “I remember you promised me a date during this trip, just the two of us!”

Bella laughed, as he pulled her closer to him with an arm around her middle, “Got any plans for breakfast tomorrow? We can go out before the plane leaves, if you like?” She asked, hoping he’d agree, since she wasn’t really feeling up for dinner tonight; it had been a long day! 

“Sounds good to me, and I’m sure you’ll figure it all out,” He grinned, winking at her. 

“You know it, Sally,” Bella agreed. 

Before either one of them could say anything else, Murr came up from behind them, “Sorry Bella, I’ve got to steal Sal from you, we’re about to start,” He told the two of them, prompting them both to stand up. 

Some of the crew was sent out into the stands for the people watching the rodeo, and Bella was lucky enough to not have to do anything backstage and was able to head out there as well. She ended up sitting next to Casey, who also had no clue what Q’s punishment was, and the two of them chatted for a little while as the actual show went on. 

When Q came out with a microphone and started to make a food out of himself, Bella couldn’t help but notice how good he looked in red. She tried to shake the thought, but it wasn’t leaving her head as easily this time, and soon enough, she found herself admiring how he looked. 

She only realized she zoned out when Q’s voice over the mic was suddenly gone and he was being handed a lasso, much to Bella’s amusement when the man who handed it to him had to correct the way he held it. 

Q was faced with a cow, and before he could even attempt to make a fool out of himself, a man on a horse came out from behind him, and started chasing Q! Bella’s hands flew up to her mouth when Q fell to the ground and the lasso came tight around his ankles. She was never a fan of the punishments when the guys were getting physically hurt, especially now that she was seeing it live. 

He wasn’t just dragged along the ground for a minute, it stretched out over five long minutes, his back must’ve been killing him! Q even managed to hold onto his hat the entire time, much to Bella’s surprise, she supposed he really did like his hat! 

When his punishment was finally over, Bella slipped backstage once more and was quick to find her three other friends who looked pleased with themselves. “Hey guys,” She greeted, coming up to Murr’s side. 

“Hey Bells, was that what you were expecting?” Sal asked, a huge grin on his face. 

She shook her head, “No, I can’t say it was,” Bella admitted. 

Joe shrugged, “He deserved it for making a stupid bet, you planning on heading out now?” He asked. 

“If you guys have any room I’ll be happy to come along,” Bella smiled. 

Murr wrapped his arm around her, “For you Bella, we’ll always have room!” 

Joe rolled his eyes as they started walking towards the car, “Look at this boys, we get some fame and suddenly she wants to get rides back to the hotel with us,” He teased, winking at her, to which Bella replied by blowing him a kiss. 

She was offered the passenger seat, for once, which was weird because she didn’t expect the three guys to cram themselves into the back together, “Isn’t Brian coming?” She asked, after a moment’s hesitation. 

Sal shook his head as he walked over to the driver’s seat, “Nah, he looked like he needed some recovery time, said he was going to wait to take the bus back,” He explained to her before they all clamored into the car. 

Bella pulled out her phone, contemplating whether or not she should send a text to Q, just to make sure he’d be alright. Before she could put too much thought into it, she was typing out a message to him. 

_ Sender: Bella _

_ Hey Brian, just wanted to make sure you were feeling alright, I’m headed back to the hotel now, but if you need anything feel free to send me a text. XBella.  _

Without thinking about it any longer, she sent the message, she wasn’t sure why she put that X there, but that’s what happened, and she’d sent the text. She was brought back to reality when her friends started to joke around her, and she was quick to jump in, holding back yawns every once in a while. 

When they got back to her floor, she hugged each of her friends goodbye and checked her phone to see if Q responded before she went into her room, hoping she’d get a good night’s sleep. 

About a half hour later Bella was settling into her bed, but just as she got comfortable, there was a series of three heavy knocks on her door. 

With a groan, Bella managed to get herself up and stumble over towards the door, not bothering to look through the peephole before opening the door. Outside stood Q, he was leaning up against the wall his eyes closed. 

“Brian?” She asked, “What’re you doing here?” 

His eyes opened to look at her, “I got your text, I wanted to see you,” Q groaned, stumbling a couple of feet forward so he was halfway through her doorway. 

She was forced to take a step back further into her room when he stumbled forward, “I was about to go to sleep, you could’ve texted me back,” Bella mumbled, rubbing at her face. 

“I just need to sit down,” Q said, stumbling forward once more so now he was fully in her room. 

He looked like he was going to fall down, he was holding his back and his hip, like he was in a lot of pain. Without thinking, Bella stepped forward to grab him before he could fall forward again, “Alright, alright, slow down,” Bella mumbled, grabbing onto one of his arms and pulling him towards the edge of her bed so he could sit down. 

Once Q was sat on the edge of her bed Bella couldn’t help but to sigh, she didn’t think that he’d be leaving anytime soon now. “Thanks Bell,” He mumbled, putting his head in his hands and leaning over. 

“Uh- is this because of your punishment?” She asked, heading towards her dresser so she could grab a sweatshirt to throw over her pajamas. 

Q nodded, leaning backwards so he was half laying on her bed now, his legs dangling off the edge, “Yeah, my back hurts like a bitch-” He moaned before turning his head so he could look at her, “D’you think-? D’you think you could just rub my back for a minute?” Q asked, sounding exhausted. 

She hesitated, she didn’t want to rub his back, she wanted to go to bed; but that didn’t look like it was going to happen anytime soon, he didn’t look like he was going to be moving much anymore. She did feel bad for him though, he looked like he was in a lot of pain, the spas probably weren’t open this late at night, so it wasn’t like he was going to get help anywhere else; none of the guys would sit down with him and rub his back, and he was  _ asking _ her, she couldn’t say no. 

“Sit up,” Bella instructed, helping him up into a seated position on the edge of the bed. She ended up sitting behind him, her legs crossed as her hands came up to rest on his shoulders, “Where does it hurt?” She asked, trailing her hands down his back. 

Q let out a little moan, “Everywhere,” He said, his hands moving to the edges of his shirt, “Wait a sec,” Q mumbled before his hands gripped at the fabric of his shirt and he pulled it slowly over his head, discarding it on the floor in front of him. 

Once more Bella hesitated, she had no clue he was going to go shirtless for this! But, very slowly, she pressed her hands back up against the muscles of his back, starting to give him a very light massage. 

After a moment of this, Q started to move, he swung his legs up onto her bed, forcing her to back away from him. “I’m goin’ to lay down, so it’s easier for you,” He decided, scooting around her and then plopping down on her bed right on his stomach, so that his face was buried into her pillow. 

She felt like she couldn’t move, this was very intrusive, he was literally laying in her bed, shirtless, too. Needless to say she was uncomfortable, but it wasn’t like he meant anything by it, he was being completely innocent. 

Slowly, but surely, Bella shuffled over towards where he was laying before finding herself on her knees next to him, her hands coming up once more to start to press into his skin again, this time a little bit harder. 

“Bell,” Q groaned, “I gotta admit, I hate massages, but this is the best I’ve felt in a long time!” He admitted. 

Her eyebrows went up into her hairline, “So you want me to stop then?” She asked, her hands leaving his body once more. 

Q’s head shot around, wincing as he did so, “No, no, keep going, just a little bit longer,” He said, turning his head back into her pillow once she moved towards him again. 

The two of them sat in silence for a while, Q letting out soft sighs ever once in a while, but that was it really. Bella was starting to get really tired of leaning over his body, having to stretch over him completely to reach his shoulders properly, which somehow, Q seemed to notice. 

“D’you wanna move? So you can reach?” He asked, his head coming up so he could see her. 

Bella shot him a confused look, “Either way I sit I’m going to have a hard time reaching you; I guess I can move,” She decided, coming up to her knees so she could get to the other side of Q. 

When she was hovering over him, one leg on either side of his body, about to go on his left side, Q stopped her, “Just stay there, it’ll be easier,” He grunted shifting around underneath her. 

For what felt like the millionth time that night, she was frozen. Her legs were on either side of his body, right above his lower back, she didn’t dare sit down on him and instead elected to balance her weight on her knees and on her hands. With a deep sigh, she started back up on his back once more, kneading into his tight muscles. 

She massaged his back for about five more minutes before Q started to move again, and very abruptly. Before she knew what was happening, Q had shifted up, so his arms could wrap around her pillow, but his sudden movement tripped Bella up and before she knew what was happening she fell straight across his back, her legs coming down around his midsection. 

Immediately she jumped up from where she’d fallen and scampered off of him and to the side, catching her breath. “Alright, I’m done now, I want to go to bed,” Bella said, not looking at Q. 

However, when he didn’t respond, she was forced to look down at him, noticing that his eyes were tightly closed, he’d turned on his side and her pillow was caught in his death grip. “Brian?” She asked again, this time nudging him slightly to see if he would respond to her touching him. 

He wasn’t waking up though, despite Bella’s mediocre efforts, if she wasn’t so tired she was sure she would’ve tried a bit harder, but she was exhausted. Bella stood up, wondering what she should do, for a few moments she contemplated going up to Sal’s room and asking him if she could spend the night, but he was probably asleep, and she didn’t want to be the one to wake him up. She also thought maybe she could find Q’s room key, but considering he was still wearing his jeans she didn’t plan on looking through his clothes that night. So, after several minutes she decided that it would just be best to keep as far away from Q as possible and share her bed. 

After several minutes of walking around, deciding the best way to go about it, Bella climbed into the far side of her bed, managing to pull the covers up over her body and turning so she could see Q. He didn’t look the most comfortable, in his jeans, not under any blankets, if she could help him out she would, but there was no way she was helping him take off his jeans, and she doubted that she would even be able to pull the blankets out from underneath him, he was complete dead weight. 

Finally, after deciding that there was nothing she could do for him, her eyes slipped shut and eventually she was fast asleep. 

()()()()()()

Bella was thankful she didn’t have to set an alarm for the next morning, they had no plans, it was a day of relaxation in Texas, since they had finished filming the day before, and she couldn’t be more grateful for it. She sighed, pressing her face further into her pillow, her arms coming further around her blankets. 

She took a deep breath in, taking in the smell of musky pine, which was weird, she couldn’t recall anything in her room smelling like that, she liked it though, so she didn’t mind too much. After a few moments of just being content she started to stir, and it didn’t take long for her to realize that she wasn’t the only thing that was stirring in her bed! 

Bella’s eyes flew open, and she was sure she would have shot up in bed too, if it weren’t for two strong arms anchoring her to the bed. She found herself staring at someone’s hairy chest, her cheek was pressed up against the warm skin of the man and one of her arms was wrapped around his bare waist. It didn’t take Bella too long to realize that the person she was laying next to was Q, what she couldn’t figure out was how they got in that position! 

When she fell asleep last night she was as far away from him as possible, and he was above the covers, now they were both in the middle of the bed and he was as covered up as Bella was! 

Thankfully, Q wasn’t awake yet, he still looked like he was out of it, she didn’t blame him either, if she was dragged around a rodeo for ten minutes she’d be wiped out too, but that also meant she wouldn’t have to face the embarrassment of him waking up and seeing her trapped in his arms. Ever so slowly, Bella started to maneuver her way out of his hold, she pulled her arms away from his body and peeled her face away from his chest, squirming backwards so there was some space between the two of them. She felt one of his heavy legs draped over hers and there was still the issue of his arms like steel bands around her torso, but she was dealing with one problem at a time. 

After a few moments of carefully calculated movements, Bella was able to slide her legs out from underneath his, and then just came the problem of getting him to let go of her. Bella carefully pressed her hands against his chest in an attempt to physically push herself away from him, but it didn’t go quite as planned. His arms came loose for a split second, but before Bella could celebrate her small victory, his hands sprawled out across her back and he pulled her back to him, and she fell sharply back into his side, finding herself right back where she had started. 

Bella groaned at her predicament, he was bound to wake up soon, she didn’t know what time it was but light was pouring in through the curtains, and with her squirming she couldn’t fathom how he was still asleep! 

That was when Q turned to lay on his back, but with his arms still wrapped tightly around Bella’s body she ended up going with him. Bella couldn’t help but let out a squeak of surprise when Q literally pulled her right up on top of his body, so she was laying right on top of his chest, her legs sprawled out over his. 

Her breath was caught in her throat as Q’s arms moved downward so they were wrapped tightly around her waist, his hands resting right over her bum. She couldn’t handle it, she didn’t care how embarrassing it was, she had to wake him up! 

“Brian,” Bella hissed, wiggling around to try to get herself off of him, “Wake up!” 

Underneath her, Q started to grumble, his arms coming loose so Bella could escape and scoot away from him back to her far side of the bed. By the time she made it to the safety of the other side of the bed, Q’s eyes were starting to flutter open. 

He looked confused, but not upset, when his eyes met Bella’s, “Morning,” He grunted, moving to sit up but flopping back down and letting out a groan as soon as he made the attempt, “Fuck,” Q groaned. 

She was still sitting on her bed, and not planning to get up just yet, since they had woken up very early. “You okay?” She asked, after a moment’s hesitation. 

Q shook his head, “My back hurts like a bitch!” He groaned once more, wincing as he did so. 

Bella wasn’t sure what to do, she wanted to go back to sleep for a little bit, but she wasn’t going to fall asleep with him in the room again. “We should try to get you back to your own room,” She mentioned, scooting closer to him. 

Thankfully, Q agreed, and made another attempt to sit up, “Mind giving me a hand?” He asked, resting on his elbows. 

She finally ended up right next to him, and pulled the blankets off to the other side of the bed so he could slide his legs off easier, she then leaned down and slipped her arm around his bare back, helping him fully sit up, “Can you stand?” She asked. 

Q shrugged, “I wouldn’t mind a little help,” He admitted. 

Bella hopped off the bed, “Here,” She said, grabbing his discarded shirt from the other night and passing it to him, “Put this on before you go out into the hall,” She instructed. 

Q did as she said, slowly, and Bella had to force herself to avert her eyes, “I’m good,” Q said once his shirt was back on, gaining Bella’s attention once more, “Help me up?” 

Bella made her way back to his side and helped him get to his feet, bearing a lot of his weight until he was upright again. Q managed to walk himself to the door and Bella opened it for him. 

“Thanks for the help Bell, I was in rough shape, sorry I fell asleep in your bed,” He finished bashfully, as he rubbed at the back of his neck. 

Bella was going to respond to him, but just as she opened her mouth, her eyes landed on Murr, who was grinning widely at the two of them, and she then realized just how this looked. 

“Morning guys,” Murr grinned, getting Q’s attention as well, “I guess this is why you both took an early night, huh?” He teased. 

Bella’s face turned bright red, and she tried to respond but no words were coming out, thankfully, Q was quicker to recover from the shock, “Fuck off, Murr, I just came by this morning to ask about the flight,” He lied. 

Murray didn’t really look convinced, “Huh, alright… Just saying, we always thought if Bella got with any one of us it was going to be you Q,” He commented. 

Bella’s jaw dropped, “What?” She demanded, she knew Murr was messing with them, but she couldn't help but feel extremely embarrassed. 

He shrugged, “It’s true, you two bickered so much we thought it was just tension,” He winked. 

Bella opened and closed her mouth several times, her eyes fluttering back and fourth between the two men, hoping Q would say something. But after a moment of silence from both men, she decided she just needed to leave, “I-uh, I’m going back to bed,” Was all she could say before she escaped back into her room, slamming the door shut behind her and putting her back to the door, taking several deep breaths. 

After a moment, when her breathing returned to normal, she realized she could hear them talking outside her room still. 

“What the fuck, man?” Q demanded, Bella recognized his gruff voice. 

“That was hilarious, you should’ve seen your faces. Did you guys actually do anything?” Murr responded. 

“Fuck off man, no!” Came Q’s angry response. 

“Come on, Q, you missed your chance-” 

Bella pulled herself away from the door, not wanting to listen to the two of them talk about her anymore, it was uncomfortable. 

She couldn’t go back to sleep, though, her thoughts were on Q. 

Thankfully, after a couple of minutes of restlessness, her phone buzzed, giving her something else to focus on. 

_ Sender: Sally V _

_  Morning, Bells, still on for our breakfast date ;) _

_ Sender: Bella _

_  You know I am, meet me downstairs in 30!  _

She was grateful he texted her, giving her something to do, and she quickly threw herself out of her bed, that smelled faintly like Q, and went into her bathroom, quickly getting herself ready for her morning, and their trip back home. She threw all of her belongings into her suitcase and then headed down to the lobby, waiting patiently for Sal. 

About five minutes later he came walking out of the elevator, directly towards her, his hands sliding over his hair, “I couldn’t get his piece to fuckin’ stay down,” He grumbled, smoothing his hair down. 

Bella laughed, resisting the urge to mess up his gelled hair, “Good morning to you too, are you ready to go now?” She grinned. 

Sal held up the car keys and slipped his arm between hers, “For you I am,” He said with a wink. 

Once the two of them were in the car, Bella instructed him on how to get to the small little breakfast cafe she’d found for the two of them the day before. The two were quickly seated in the cafe once they arrived and Bella happily ordered an omelette and Sal ordered some scrambled eggs, a pancake, and some bacon. 

“Ready to be back in New York?” She asked, once their food had arrived. 

Sal immediately dug into his food, “Fuck yeah, Texas is… nice and all, but it’s not New York,” He nodded. 

She laughed, “I agree, but I wouldn’t mind coming back one day, maybe once I’m retired,” Bella decided. 

“Me and you Bella, we’ll come back down here on a road trip, go anywhere you want,” He grinned, but didn’t sound too convincing. 

“Hey, now I’m going to hold you to that Sally, when we’re both old you better still want to do that,” She teased, finally trying her omelette. 

Sal shrugged, “What if I never retire, I could do this show into my old age, and by that point I’ll be too old to go on road trips,” He said, dramatically. 

She rolled her eyes at him, “Alright, alright, I’m sure I could convince someone to come with me then, since you’ll be so old,” She mocked. 

“I’m sure you could get Q to come with you,” He commented, offhandedly. 

Bella almost choked on her omelette, but she managed to pull herself together, she hoped that Murray hadn’t told everyone about what he saw that morning already! “What makes you say that?” She asked, hoping she didn’t sound too curious. 

“He just seemed to enjoy it here, other than last night,” Sal chuckled, “And he seems to like  _ your _ company a lot,” He added, smirking slightly. 

She couldn’t tell what he was trying to do by telling her that… if he even was trying to do anything. “Oh, well,” Bella blinked, “Maybe I’ll have to ask him instead of you then,” She decided, closely watching for Sal’s reaction, which she guessed he was doing to her, too.

He didn’t do much other than continue to smirk, like he knew something she didn’t know, and thankfully they both chose to drop the conversation after that. “You ready for the plane ride back? I hope you put me next to you again,” Sal grinned. 

Bella smirked too, “I think I’m going to keep that a surprise for you, you’ll only have to wait a couple more hours,” She teased him. 

After the two of them finished their meal, Sal drove them back to the hotel where they both gathered all their belongings and met the rest of the cast and crew in the lobby where the cars were being loaded up, and Bella gathered up all of their room keys, checking everyone out of the hotel. 

Then they got loaded up in the cars that were going to take them back to the hotel. Bella left the hotel, dragging her suitcase behind her, to find Murr and Q standing outside the cars, looking like they were waiting for her, everyone else was already packed up, it looked like. 

“Bella,” Murr greeted, looking very sly, “You’re with us this time, everywhere else is packed, it’s going to be a tight fit,” He smirked. 

She forgot that on the trip here they had to have two people squish themselves into the car, apparently this time it was decided that she’d be one of those people. “If I have to,” She smirked, avoiding looking at Q, she had to admit, she was a little embarrassed, especially since Murr was looking back and forth between the two of them, like he was in on a huge secret of some sort. 

Bella followed the two men over towards the car, and Murray was quick to scoot himself in front of Q so he was sitting in the middle seat, and Q and Bella were left standing outside the car together. “So I guess, it’s me an’ you again,” He mumbled, pushing the door open wider so he could sit down. 

Peeking through the car door, she could see on the other side, Joe had his backpack on his lap and Sal was in the passenger seat, so that very well wasn’t going to work, “I guess so, if you don’t mind,” She mumbled back, trying to stop her cheeks from turning bright red. 

“Come on then,” Q instructed, he looked pretty cramped himself, his knees occasionally brushing up against the seat in front of him. 

Hesitantly, Bella climbed over him, setting a hand on his shoulder so she was able to position herself in a way where she wasn’t taking up too much space and she hoped that Q wasn’t too uncomfortable. “This okay?” She asked once she was fully in the car perched on his knees, her legs sideways moving into Murr’s space who didn’t seem to mind too much. 

He shifted underneath her, his hands coming up and hovering over her sides, like he wanted to touch her, “Could you move back a little bit?” He requested, his hands finally moving down to rest on her sides, guiding her backwards, until her back was resting against the car and his right arm, which was wrapped around her middle, and her legs were over his, still turned towards Murray, but she was still sitting straight up, so she was not resting back on his chest, “That’s better,” Q said, his fingers flexing where they rested against her stomach, and Bella had to resist the urge to laugh. 

The ride to the airport was longer than she remembered it being, but maybe that was because she felt every single move Q made, or because every time the car jerked a little bit his grip on her would tighten so that she wouldn’t move much, but eventually they arrived at the airport and Bella scrambled out of the car faster than she knew to be possible. 

Security took a little bit longer this time, apparently everyone else was also trying to get to their plane too at this point! She made sure that in the line she was not next to Q or Murr, since she was extremely embarrassed to be near Q, and Murr would most likely bring up what he saw that morning. 

Once they got through security, Bella made it a point to go grab herself a coffee from the Dunkin’ Donuts that was located in the airport, leaving her bags with the rest of their group. She got a non-decaf coffee, hoping to be able to sleep on the plane this time around before anyone could fall asleep on her! 

Sooner than expected, their plane was boarding, and Bella was standing in line next to Casey, who was very excited to be heading back to New York. Bella was the first of their group on the plane and she found her seat, no problem, lifting up her carry on and shoving it in the compartment above her head before taking her seat, leaving her to wonder who was going to end up next to her. 

After a moment, she spotted Sal walking down the aisle smiling at her, “Looks like you like sitting next to me,” He said with a wink, quickly slinging his bag up into the overhead before leaning down to sit next to her. 

“Can’t deny that, Sally,” She grinned. 

Next, they saw Murr walking down the aisle, to the seat behind them, and sitting in the aisle seat, “James, I thought I got you a window seat, didn’t you want one?” She asked him, turning around in her seat so she could see him better. 

He shrugged after he sat down, “Changed my mind, and Q didn’t mind switching with me,” He commented, looking very pleased with himself. 

Bella nodded and turned back around, Murr was an ass, she knew what he was doing, but she didn’t know why he was doing it. Soon enough, Q was heading down the aisle and stopping next to Sal and Bella, leaving them to stand up so he was able to squeeze past them into the window seat. 

He smirked at Bella when he sat down, “Planning on taking me up on that offer from last time?” Q asked, gesturing towards his free shoulder. 

Her eyes widened a little bit, and she felt the blush rise to her face, but she blinked a couple of times trying to get herself back together, “Uh, no- I should be fine, I’m not an intrusive sleeper, like some,” She said pointedly, shooting him a look. 

Q rolled his eyes, “Alright, I guess we’ll see about that soon enough,” He grinned, “Want some gum?” He asked, pulling out a pack of gum from his pocket and holding it out to her. 

“I do!” Sal announced, reaching across Bella and grabbing the packet from Q and popping a piece of gum into his mouth before passing the packet to Bella, to which she quickly grabbed her own piece and passed the packet back to Q, thanking him. 

Afterwards, the plane took off, and as soon as they were flying straight, Bella felt her eyes start to slip shut, her head falling sideways to rest on her own shoulder. 

Before she could pass out, however, Q shook her by the knee, jerking her away, “Don’t fall asleep like that, your necks going to hurt, seriously just lean on me,” He insisted, grabbing her by the shoulder to pull her sideways. 

Bella didn’t hesitate, she just let herself be pulled sideways until her head was resting on his shoulder, and the next thing she knew, she was asleep. 

She was woken up when the attendant's voice came back throughout the plane, but she was groggy. She realized that Q’s head was resting on her own, and she had to prod him a little bit until he started to move his own head, “Sorry,” Bella muttered. 

Q smiled at her, “Don’t worry about it, I told you ya could,” He said, stretching himself out a little bit and hooking his seat belt back on around his stomach then relaxing back into his seat. 

“Well, thanks then,” Bella decided on, smiling a little bit despite herself. 

The plane landed and Bella could personally say she was thrilled to be back in New York and she was sure everyone else was too, and they were all back to work by tomorrow the next day anyways! 

The cast and crew said their goodbyes and Bella quickly got in her car and drove herself home, happy to be back. But her eventful trip gave her a lot to think about, namely one man with dark brown hair and matching brown eyes. 


	13. Chapter 13

Several weeks had passed by since they had gotten back from Texas and things had returned back to normal for the most part. Bella was happy to be back in New York, the day after they’d arrived back home everyone was working again and filming had started up, the third season was halfway finished after the Texas episode, but there was still a lot to film! Hanging out with her friends was fun too, she never got bored of being around them, and things were normal, most of the time. Q was strange sometimes, around her, but she tried to not let it bother her too much. 

Bella was excited for today though, it was her one day off. They were finishing up a bit they were filming at the same location as the day before, so she was given the day off, and her and Olivia had made plans to go out that night! 

She spent the morning doing a few mundane chores, cleaning, paying some bills, going to the grocery store and buying some milk, and before she knew it, she was getting ready for the night to start. 

They were going to a club on Staten Island, a pretty popular one, especially on a Friday night, and it was a local favorite of Bella’s for a while. She put on a black bodycon dress with black heels and grabbed a light jacket that she was planning on checking as soon as they got to the bar. 

Her hair was straightened and pulled up into a half up half down look, which would hopefully keep her a little bit cooler. She slipped her phone into her jacket pocket and went to her front door to look for the cab that Olivia was going to meet her in. 

Not three minutes later she saw the yellow cab pull out front and Bella ran outside to greet her friend, “Hey Liv,” She grinned, slipping into the backseat of the cab. 

“Hey,” Olivia grinned back, greeting her friend with a one armed hug, “You excited?” 

Bella nodded, shutting the door behind her so the driver could speed off once more, “You know I am, this is much needed, drinking and dancing,” Bella laughed. 

“Oh me too,” Olivia agreed, “I’m hoping there’s going to be a good crowd tonight, cause I’m not planning on staying the whole time,” She said with a wink, much to Bella’s amusement. 

She knew that this was going to happen, Olivia loved to leave with a guy she finds on the dance floor, and Bella didn’t mind, as long as Olivia shared her location with her and texted her in the morning that all was well, it worked out for both of them. 

The two friends made it to the club and checked their coats before heading over to the bar. They always liked to start at the bar before everyone really started dancing, and used the time to get a little tipsy and catch up with one another, even though Bella was only planning on having one beer tonight. Bella was finally able to tell Olivia about their Texas trip and her other plans for future vacations. Olivia told Bella about how she was planning on visiting her family sooner rather than later and that she was more excited to see her parents new dog than her parents, much to Bella’s amusement. 

Finally, the club started to get a little bit more packed, and Olivia was quick to spot a tall guy with a well groomed beard and she slipped off her bar stool and went to go scope him out on the dance floor. Bella laughed and continued to sip at her drink, and soon enough, she was approached from behind by a well built guy who looked like he was a little bit younger than her, asking her if she’d like to dance. 

Bella, of course, agreed, finished up the last sip of her drink, and soon enough she letting the man pull her off towards the dance floor. 

She didn’t know how long she’d been dancing for, or who she was dancing with, she was pretty sure that the built guy had left at one point, but soon enough, she was greeted again by another guy and she kept dancing. 

Every once in a while, she’d catch a glimpse of Olivia, but after a little while, she lost sight of her, and suspected she was having a very good time with the tall man she’d seen earlier. 

A light layer of sweat was beginning to form over her skin as she danced, her hips swaying in time to the music as the man behind her let his hand trail up and down his sides. She was so into her dancing she hardly noticed when the body behind her was gone and a split second later there was another in his place. 

This person felt larger than the last, his hands were definitely bigger as they pulled themselves around her stomach to pull her closer to the body. He was warmer, too, his whole body seemed to generate heat, and although Bella was already sweating she found his warmth pretty comforting. He seemed taller than the last guy too, not much taller, but it was something. 

Bella let his hands roam over her stomach before coming to rest on her hips, holding her so tightly she felt like it would be hard to get him off her if need be. She could feel his length harden as she danced on him and she could've sworn she heard a soft groan from behind her, making her giggle a bit. 

The man's arms came back around her and she could feel his face much closer to hers this time. What she didn't expect, however, was that the man would start to speak to her. 

“Baby girl,” Came a hauntingly familiar voice over Bella's shoulder, “I didn't know you could dance so good!” 

Bella's head shot around at the sound of that voice, her body not being able to follow due to his unrelenting grip on her body, and she found her eyes locked on Brian Quinn's. 

She balked for a moment, she didn't know what on Earth he thought he was doing here, especially why he would think it would be alright to dance with her! 

“Brian?” She gasped, trying to pull out of his tight grip, “What are you doing here?” 

Q swayed a little bit, not at all in time with the music, “I saw you and wanted to dance with you,” he pouted, his arms shifting around her body so his hands could lay flat on her stomach. 

Bella could tell he was drunk, she could _ smell _ it even, he looked  _ really  _ drunk, but that was still no reason to dance with her without her knowing! “You need to let go of me right now, Brian,” She warned, grabbing his hands in an attempt to remove them from her body. 

She let out a small squeak of surprise when his hands fisted into her dress and he rather forcefully pulled her body back into his, his erection now blatantly obvious. “You look so good,” He slurred, his head coming down to rest on her shoulder as the rest of his face when into her neck, causing Bella to shudder. 

“Brian, you are drunk, get off of me,” She said once more, this time being as successful as to turn around in his hold so at least she could put her hands in between their bodies. “What are you even doing here?”

He didn't seem to mind that she faced him now, his head went right back into her neck, his arms going around her best they could, “Missed you, wanted to get drunk, you weren’t at work today,” Q said as if that explained anything to her. 

Bella realized that he wasn’t going to listen to much of anything that she had to say, but she still needed to try, “Let go of me, please, Brian,” She said as gently as she could, despite her aggravation. 

He pressed his forehead against her exposed shoulder, skin sticking to skin, “Sal and Murr got to dance with you though,” He argued. 

Her face flushed, “Not like that kind of dancing!” She shot back, realizing just how embarrassing the situation was as her face turned bright red. “Please Brian, let me go,” she tried again, her hands resting on his chest. 

Q straightened up and looked at Bella, “I'm going to get another beer,” He decided, his arms loosening slightly around here. 

A second later, he was pulling away from her to go back to the bar, but Bella moved to stop him, not being able to stop herself. “Brian, wait, don't get another beer, you're drunk already,” She insisted, her hand involuntary coming up to rest on his arm. 

He jolted at her touch, turning back to look at her hand, before grinning widely, showing Bella his perfectly white teeth. Q somehow managed to get his face right up next to Bella's, their noses mere inches apart, “Bell, you do care!” He slurred, looking at her under hooded eyes.

She blinked several times, flinching slightly when Q grabbed her by the shoulders in an attempt to steady himself, “I… I just don’t want you to- are you here with anyone?” Bella asked, to keep from embarrassing herself. 

Q shook his head, “Just you,” He grinned, his face getting that much closer to hers. 

Her nose wrinkled at the smell of alcohol on his breath, and she opened her mouth to speak with him but was interrupted when she heard Olivia calling for her. 

“Bella,” She called, running over to where Bella and Q stood, “I'm happy I found you, I'm heading home with someone I met, wanted to let you know before I disappeared,” Olivia said with a wink. 

Bella's full attention was on Olivia now, forgetting about Q as he stood up straighter behind her. “Thanks Liv, text me in the morning,” Bella made her friend promise. 

“Will do,” Olivia was quick to agree before hugging Bella, “And have a fun time with the cutie behind you,” she whispered, pulling out of the hug and shooting her a wink before running back into the crowd, most likely to find the man she was going home with. 

Bella sighed, now that Olivia had left, she could too, since she was sure with Q here she wasn’t going to have as good of a time, and she was about to start towards the exit when she was grabbed from behind once more, this time by a completely new figure, who thankfully, wasn’t Q. She was about to turn around to tell him she was done for the night, but someone was quick to beat her to it. 

“Get the _ fuck _ off of her,” Came a familiar deep voice from behind her and a second later there man behind was stumbling backwards being thrown off guard by Q’s large hands pulling him off of Bella's body, leaving Q to catch Bella when she stumbled backwards with the force from Q pulling the other man off of her. 

The man was quick to straighten himself out, “What's your problem, man,” He demanded, moving forward to confront Q. 

Bella cursed under her breath as Q squared up to the man, “She's here with me, get the fuck out of here,” he said, his words coming out pretty clearly for someone so drunk. 

She knew she'd have to get Q away from the man, since for some reason he was acting very strange. Before the man had a chance to respond Bella stepped in between the two of them, her back to Q. “Hey, I'm sorry about him, he's had a little too much to drink,” She explained quickly, jumping a little bit when Q’s chest came up against her back, and his arm slipped around her waist, “We were just leaving anyways,” Bella said. 

The man eyed her up and down rather slowly, “You really wanna leave with him? Why not stay a little bit babe,” He flirted, winking at her.

She grimaced at the man, but before she could tell him off, Q had pulled her behind him and flung himself at the man, punching him straight across the face. The man immediately dropped to the floor, he must've been pretty intoxicated too, to go down so fast from one punch. 

Q turned back to her, a frown gracing his face now, “Shit, Brian, what did you do?” Bella demanded, moving towards the man laying on the ground. 

A crowd started to form around them and before Bella could reach the man she found herself back in Brian's arms, being held tightly against his chest, his large hands resting flat against her back, keeping her pressed against him. “I wanna go home,” he muttered, pushing against her body like he was going to fall on her. 

“Brian, stand up,” Bella demanded, feeling pretty angry at him. Thankfully the man on the ground was being helped back up to his feet and walked away from the center of the dance floor. 

He perked up a little bit, “We going home?” He asked her, his eyes glazed over. 

Bella signed, she realized that dealing with Q tonight was not going to get any easier for her, but she couldn't just leave him to himself now, “Who drove you here?” She asked him. 

He shook his head a couple times, his shaggy hair getting in his face, “I did, Jeep's in the lot,” Q said, fumbling for his keys. 

Bella was quick to snatch them from his fingers, “There's no way you're driving,” She said, giving him a stern look. 

Q grinned at her, “Wasn’t plannin’ on it. You drive,” he said, looking pleased with himself. 

She couldn't help but hesitate, sure she only had one beer about two hours ago but she still didn't want to drive him home then have to get herself home. “Can't you just take a cab?” Bella suggested. 

Once more he shook his head, “Not enough money, you drive,” he said again, this time a bit more forcefully. 

Finally, Bella relented, “Fine,” she agreed, starting towards the exit, Q following closely behind her. As soon as she set off into the crowd to try to get out of the club she felt Q’s large hand latch onto hers, letting her guide him through the club. 

“Thought you didn't like holding hands,” She remarked,remembering she’d heard him say that before and not expecting Q to be able to hear her. 

His hand clenched around hers even tighter, throwing her off guard for a second, “Only with you,” He muttered, lacing their fingers together. 

Bella feel something stir in her stomach at that, but she pushed the feeling away quickly, and led them outside the club towards Q’s red Jeep. 

He let go of her hand only when they reached the car and he clamored in the passenger seat, patiently waiting for Bella to start driving. “Where do you live?” She asked him, giving him a pointed look. 

Q stared back at her blankly, “What?” He asked, blinking a couple of times. 

“Your address,” Bella said a bit more forcefully this time, “Where do you live?” 

He frowned, “I want to stay with you,” Q whined. 

With a sigh, Bella realized that she was not going to get out of this, and frankly she would've felt bad if she left him by himself in his current state. So with only minimal hesitation she started the car and started towards her place. 

Q slipped in and out of sleep as they drove until they reached Bella's house. She got out of his car and helped him out his side, his arm around her shoulders and her's around his waist, and the two of them finally made it into the house.

She helped him over to the couch and let him sit down, “Alright I'm going to get ready for bed, I'll be back down here in a couple of minutes with some blankets, you'll be okay down here?” She asked him. 

Q nodded, his eyes closed as he lounged over the arm of her couch, and Bella quickly head upstairs to go through her nighttime routine. Just as she was throwing her hair up in a bun, there was a knocking on her bedroom door. She hurried over to opening it to see Q on the other side, looking sleepy and drunk. 

“You alright?” Bella asked, furrowing her brow, she was only gone for about 5 minutes, she didn't think he'd even notice. 

He nodded and started into her room, stopping right in front of her, “Missed you,” he said. 

“Sorry, I was just about to head back down, I've got your blankets right on the bed,” Bella said, turning to grab the blankets for him, but when she spun around, Q made his way even closer to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Brian,” She gasped at the feeling of his face pressed against her back, “What're you doing?” She asked, get cheeks turning red. 

“Going to bed,” He said, his arms tightening around her body and letting more of his weight fall on her. 

She pushed against his arms locking her legs in place so he couldn’t push her forward and the two of them wouldn’t fall on the bed, “Let go Brian,” Bella said, tiredly, and she was rather surprised when he actually listened.

Bella watched as Q walked over to the blankets on the bed, but instead of picking them up and going downstairs he gave the blankets one look and fell down on her bed, rolling over so he could lazily smile at her and open his arms up to her. 

“Brian, get up,” She groaned, ignoring the cocky smile on his face, “I'll walk with you downstairs, come on.” 

Bella moved to help Q off the bed, and she supposed that was her first mistake. When she reached out to take his hand he gripped on tight and pulled her forward, straight onto the bed with him. She let out a shriek, not being able to contain herself as Q was quick to wrap his arms around her and nuzzle his face into her neck, keeping her pinned tightly against him. 

“Brian!” She scolded, pulling against him. 

He grumbled something and pulled her closer to him, surprising Bella into stillness. “Shh,” he mumbled, “Go to bed.” 

She didn't want to listen to him though, this was her house and _ her bed _ ! “No Brian, get out of my bed, you're drunk!” She nearly shouted in his ear. 

Q frowned, letting out a little growl that went straight to Bella's core, causing her to shiver and freeze in place. He seemed to notice her shiver because a second later he had one hand leave her body and pull her sheets up over their bodies. 

“Please,” Q muttered, sounding sleepier and sleepier by the minute. 

She groaned, trying to pull away from him, she didn't care if she had her bed anymore, she could sleep on the couch, she just wanted to be out of his arms. As she moved around trying to escape, Q managed to turn her around so that they were spooning, his body pressed intimately against hers. “Brian, you need to stop!” She demanded, wiggling against him.

Q let out a guttural moan, his beard scratching the back of her neck, “If you keep moving like that I won't want to sleep for much longer,” he groaned, moving his hips to collide with her backside under the covers. 

Bella gasped and froze in his grasp, the feeling of his erection pressed against her bum was almost too much for her to handle. 

She was positive Q was grinning from where his head sat atop her head, “That's it baby girl,” he murmured, snuggling into her back a little bit more, “Night,” Q grunted before relaxing behind her and slipping one of his legs in between the two of hers, as if reassuring himself that she would be trapped there for the night.

A weight settled in the pit of her stomach when heard Q’s soft snores from behind her, making her realize that she really wasn't getting out of this anytime soon. 

Despite the discomfort that was surrounding her and Q’s breath tickling the back of her neck, she soon settled her nerves down enough so that she was able to drift off into sleep.

 

* * *

Bella was smiling when she woke up, she was warm, comfortable, and she felt _ safe _ . She groaned a little as she stretched out her limbs, her legs moving easily and her arms having a little harder of a time. She flipped over, finding it was rather difficult to move the way she wanted to. Immediately, she cracked her eyes open, she was surprised to realize that her vision was blocked by a large mass, she didn't realize that she had so many blankets. 

She frowned as she started to sit up, but as soon as she moved she could feel the body in front of her pull her sharply back to him. Bella inhaled sharply, finally remembering exactly who was laid up next to her. She cursed under her breath, not wanting to wake up the man in front of her who was holding her so closely to his chest she felt like she was going to suffocate if she got any closer. 

After a moment she started to move, slowly, trying to wiggle out of his hold in a more practical way. Just as she thought she'd be able to slip away, Q let out a grunt and his large hands were quick to find her body and pull her back in, this time so she was flat on her back and he was draped over her, his face hidden in her neck. 

Bella sighed and started to squirm around again, but she immediately froze when Q started to move again. He pushed his face further into her neck, his lips touching the skin there, and one of his hands came up to rest in the valley of her chest. Her face flushed and her hands went up to his to move him away from her breasts, but was stopped once again when he started to kiss at her neck. 

She gasped, her eyes fluttering shut against her will as his lips moved slowly over her skin. “B-Brian,” Bella whispered, trying to catch his attention in some way to get him to stop, since she didn’t have the strength to push him off of her. “Brian,” She tried again, a little bit more forcefully. 

Bella had no clue what he was doing, she didn't even know if he was conscious yet, so when he spoke up, she couldn't help but jump a little. “Good morning, baby,” He mumbled against her neck, his lips still moving rhythmically. Q let out a small groan, pressing himself closer to her body, she felt his teeth graze against her next before teasingly nipping at the skin there. She yelped and pulled away, making Q chuckle a little bit as he rolled off of her. “That,” he grinned, “Is a good way to wake up, I should come over more often.” Q looked very pleased with himself as he threw his hands behind his head, lounging on her bed. 

She grimaced, sitting up quickly and clamoring off the bed before anything could get any weirder! “Yeah,” Bella coughed, covering her mouth with a hand, “Uh, I put your keys in your jacket last night, it’s hanging by the door,” She said, not knowing how to move forward from this situation. 

Q sat up and threw his legs over the side of her bed, standing up and stretching before walking over to her, “Thanks, babygirl, and thanks for letting me crash here last night, being alone would’ve been rough,” He groaned, rolling his eyes. 

Bella felt very awkward, she wanted him to leave so that she could get started on her morning, but she couldn’t just kick him out of her house, she thought the subtle comment about his keys would get him to leave, but now she wasn’t so sure. “Yeah, just next time don’t drink as much, kay?” She said, rubbing at one of her eyes. 

He grinned at her, shooting her a wink, “Whatever you say Bell,” Q said, sauntering past her to her door and down the stairs, leaving Bella to trail after him to make sure he was really leaving. 

At the foot of the stairs she found Q with his jacket on, and a large orange cat snuggled up into his arms, “Traitor,” Bella muttered upon seeing her cat in Q’s arms. 

“You didn’t tell me you had a cat!” He exclaimed, smiling as he let his fingers run through Felix’s fur. “This changes our whole relationship, I’m going to have to bring mine over!” Q smiled, scratching behind Felix’s ears. 

Bella nodded, stepping down the last two steps, “Yeah his name’s Felix,” She introduced, walking closer so she could let him lick her thumb, like she knew he liked to do. 

Q let out a small grunt again, putting Felix down on the ground so he could rub against their legs, “Thanks for letting me spend the night again, Bella, I don’t know what I would've done without you,” He smiled, reaching out to pull her into a hug. 

She let him hug her, and just when he went to pull out of the hug she found him pressing a kiss to her cheek before straightening out and winking at her, “See ya at work Monday,” He said and before Bella knew what was happening, he had left. 

Bella couldn’t help but to sigh when her front door was closed, picking up Felix shortly afterwards and cradling him to her chest. “He is too much for me, Felix,” She muttered, shaking her head as Felix let out a meow, letting her know that he was ready for food. She was finally able to laugh at her pet’s insistent meowing and she scratched him behind the ears, hoping he would know that she was on her way to make him as happy as possible. 


	14. Chapter 14

Monday morning had come all to fast for Bella’s liking and she was none too excited to go back to work… mainly embarrassed to see Q. She felt awkward, since the last time she’d seen him he’d been leaving her house from an embarrassing night, more embarrassing for him than her, but still. 

They were filming at two location today, supposedly, in an attempt to get the majority of an episode finished by the end of the day. She was set to meet them at a small drug store in the city first, then they were going to a grocery store somewhere, and her long commute went surprisingly fast, she guessed it was because she didn’t want to go. 

When she arrived and dropped her car off at the nearest parking garage, she walked over to the small drug store, hoping that most of the crew would be there already so she’d know where she was going. 

Opening the door, Bella found herself looking at one of her grinning friends, “Gooood morning, Bella,” Murr sang, setting the items in his hands down on the counter. 

She grinned, joining her friend by the counter, “Morning James, already snacking?” She teased. 

He shrugged, grabbing his wrapped breakfast sandwich and starting to munch on it, throwing down some cash on the counter and stuffing his bag of sunflower seeds in his front pocket. “I didn’t have breakfast yet, Bells,” He defended himself. 

From behind the duo, the bell rang, signaling the arrival of another customer. Curiously, Bella’s head swung around towards the door and her eyes met with Q’s. She didn’t even notice Joe walking in behind Q as her cheeks burned red, until Joe pushed himself past Q to head towards Murr and Bella, “Morning Suckas,” He smirked, his arm slipping around Bella’s shoulders, “Sal’s already in the back, texted me and told me to hurry up and get here,”Joe explained as he started to pull Bella with him, to which she was grateful so she wouldn’t have to confront Q just yet. 

Once her and Joe were in the back, Sal was quick to spot them and head over towards them, “Hey guys,” He greeted, before turning solely to Bella, “I need to talk to you later. I’ll see you at lunch?” He asked, raising his eyebrows. 

He didn’t give her much of a choice, but Bella would’ve agreed nonetheless, “Sure, I could drive us somewhere,” She offered, to which Sal nodded and pulled Joe aside who was looking between the two curiously. 

Sal was quick to agree and Bella soon excused herself from her two friends to make her way towards the back of the small space they were given. While she was sitting through them filming, she decided that she would come up with a few finishing details for their wrap party that was supposed to be happening in a couple of days.

Lost in her planning, Bella couldn’t help but to jump when someone suddenly sat down next to her, their thigh brushing up against hers. She turned her head to the right to find herself face to face with Q, the last person she needed to see at the moment, but there was no way she was getting out of it anymore. He looked nice too, which didn’t help her at all, he was dressed up as a security guard, she guessed that’s what they were pretending to be today, and she had to admit that the jacket fit him very well. His hair was down and as unruly as ever, and his dark brown eyes were staring right into hers, nearly taking her breath away. 

Thankfully, Bella was snapped out of her surprise when he started talking, “Hey Bell, what’s up?” He asked, casually nudging her with the leg that was still pressed up against hers. 

Bella shifted to her left, hoping to be able to move over on the bench, but she was practically pressed up against the wall, leaving her squished next to Q. “Uh, not much, just finishing planning the wrap party,” She trailed off, looking down at her notebook so she wouldn’t have to keep looking at Q. 

He leaned close though, not picking up on her discomfort, “Right, forgot you were doin’ that. Uh- Are you going to that with anyone?” He asked, still leaning over her to read her notes. 

Caught off guard by the question, Bella’s face shot up to look at Q again, this time finding him much closer to her than before, “I wasn’t planning on it… I guess I might invite Olivia if she’s back from her vacation by then, she’s visiting family soon,” She explained, her eyes refusing to leave Q’s. 

Q seemed to move closer still, not deterred by her at all, their noses were inches apart now, “Well, if she doesn’t wanna come, I’m goin’ by myself too so if you want, I was thinkin’ maybe we could go together?” He asked, looking a little bashful. 

Bella blinked, did he just  _ ask _ her if she wanted to come to the afterparty with him? He did, he definitely did ask her. But she didn’t know what to say… Why would he ask her to go with him- “I guess so- I mean, you’re not going with anyone?” She asked, trying to divert the question. 

He shrugged, “Nah, well, unless you wanna go… together,” He added. 

Her mind was whirring, she couldn’t say no, could she? “I- alright then, we can go together if you want,” Bella managed to get out, finding herself surprised at her own response. 

A grin bigger than she’d ever seen lit up Q’s face, “Great, that’s fuckin’ great, uh- sorry, I mean, yeah, I’ll pick you up, let me know if you gotta get there early or whatever, but I’ll be there… with you,” He smiled, and before he could say more, Murr was calling his name, taking away their attention from one another, “Shit, alright, I guess we’re starting, well, uh, I’ll talk to you in a little bit then,” Q said before standing up and heading over towards his friends to start filming. 

Bella was glad to be left alone after that, she was able to call the venue to confirm their reservation, make sure that the event was still being catered, and send out several more invites before the guys had finished filming their first challenge. 

“Bella!” She heard someone call, and she had to finally look up from her work to see who was calling her. 

Sal was hustling over to where she sat and just as she looked up from her notebook, he was grabbing her by the arm and pulling her up out of her seat and out the doors of the store. “What are you doing?” Bella asked, laughing as the two of them fled the store. 

“We,” He huffed once he got them out of the store, not allowing Bella to lead them, “Are going to get lunch before anyone tries to tag along,” Sal explained, following Bella into the parking garage and wrinkling his nose up once they got inside the garage in disdain. 

“Come on, we’re right over here,” Bella told him, pulling his arm over towards where she was parked. 

The two of them got into the car and Sal let out a sigh, “Where we going?” Bella asked as she drove out of the parking garage. 

Sal shrugged, “I dunno, let’s just find someplace close to the next location,” He suggested. 

Bella was quick to get to their next location and Sal quickly pointed out a small cafe and they found themselves seated and eating fairly quickly. Bella tried to pay for her food upfront, but Sal refused to let her, claiming that if she drove him somewhere it was his way of paying for gas. 

“So,” Bella began, jumping right into whatever it was Sal wanted to talk about, “Why are we here?” 

The man across from her set down his coffee and shifted around in his seat for a moment before settling down, “I wanted to talk to you about Quinn,” He said, getting right to the point. 

Bella was a little bit confused though, “Okay, what about him?” She asked, hoping that Sal wouldn’t beat around the bush- like he normally does. 

“Well, remember back in high school? How he would always make fun of you and stuff? That was because he liked you… a lot, and we never told you about that because he made us promise not too. Actually he made me promise not to, I think I was the only one that knew anyways, and he didn’t tell me that he liked you until I asked him- Anyways,” Sal sighed, taking a breath and not really making direct eye contact with Bella as he rambled, “He likes you now, and I know you are oblivious so I’m being the good friend now and letting you know what you’re getting yourself into,” Sal finished. 

Bella on the other hand didn’t know what to say, there was no way that Q was interested in her! He was a ladies man through and through, they were even making fun of him for that last week when they were in Texas- but wait, Q did seem to be put off when they were joking about that, and Q was always somehow ended up next to her, touching her in some way… Maybe he did like her. 

Sal noticed that she was thinking a lot about this and decided to speak up again, “I didn’t want to freak you out telling you this, I just didn’t want you to be freaked out by Quinn, I wanted you to know so you could tell him off or… He’s going to ask you to go with him to the wrap party I think, just so you’re aware,” He continued. 

“He already did ask me,” Bella confessed, finally wrapping her brain around the whole situation, “And I said I’d go with him.” 

He looked taken aback, “You like Q back?” He demanded, almost humorously, but Bella didn’t really feel like laughing too much. 

“No, no I don’t… I don’t think so… I don’t know,” She confessed, because she really didn’t know! Q was much nicer to her than he was all those years ago now that they were adults, he knew how to make her laugh, he was a nice,  _ attractive _ , guy, “What d’you think I should do?” She asked Sal. 

Sal shrugged, “If you don’t like him don’t encourage him, don’t go to the wrap party with him… just maybe stay away from him for a little while- or you can go to the party with him and give him a chance… you never know,” He told her. 

“But what if I do give him a chance and then it doesn’t work, I’ll lose my job,” She expressed her concern. 

He only shook his hand at her, “You wouldn’t lose your job, Q would get over himself and you’d be fine, we wouldn’t let you leave,” Sal said with a wink. 

Bella nodded, “Thanks for letting me know, I guess I’ll have to think about it for a little bit,” She decided, really not knowing what she was going to do. 

After Sal told her about Q the rest of their lunch went by very quickly, Sal talked a lot, but Bella responded halfheartedly, her mind elsewhere, thinking about how she was going to deal with Q from now on. 

Soon enough the two of them were walking towards their second and final location for the day with full stomachs. “Thanks for lunch Sal, it was delicious,” Bella said as the two of them walked into the back of the grocery store that they were going to be filming in. 

“You better wish me good luck, if I lose this it’s on you,” He said with another wink. 

Bella laughed and pecked his cheek really quick, “Good luck Sally, win this one for me,” She winked back and the two of them parted. Since she was almost done with the planning for the party she decided that she could watch this challenge play out for a couple of minutes. 

She found herself standing in front of the crew monitor, waiting for the guys to start filming, they were doing a challenge with balloons, where they had to clip balloons onto shoppers, and Bella had to admit that it was a pretty funny game. She didn’t even realize that she’d stayed to watch them film the entire challenge, until Sal was walking up to her, sulking a little bit. 

“Sorry I didn’t win it for you Bells, I tried,” He moped, slinging an arm around her shoulders. 

She reciprocated with an arm around his middle, laughing at him a little bit, “Don’t worry about it Sal, you’ll get ‘em next time,” Bella encouraged. 

“Oh this is unfair treatment Bells, you’re rooting for  _ Sal  _ to win?” Joe’s voice rang out from behind the two of them and they were quick to spin around to face their friend. 

Bella grinned at him, “He asked me first Joey, you were too slow,” She teased. 

From behind Joe, Bella spotted Murr and Q heading towards the group and she flushed, she didn’t know how she should talk to Q, since Sal had talked to her. She didn’t know if she should try to slip away, or if she should excuse herself and head home for the night…    


Before she could decide what to do, Joe made the decision for her; still having his conversation with Sal he marched over to Bella and scooped her up in a tight hug, holding her close to his chest and squishing her with his arms, swinging her around a little bit, “Well next time I’ll have to be faster then,” He teased, as Bella fought to get out of his tight hold on her, giggling a little bit. 

“Get off of me!” She laughed, trying to push him away and only being able to succeed when Murr and Q joined them. 

“Hey boys, long time no see,” Joe greeted, keeping his arm around Bella but letting her move away from him somewhat. 

Q nodded at Joe, and Bella noticed that he was peeking at her from the corner of his eye, and Sal noticed too, Murr on the other hand cuffed Joe on the shoulder, making him let go of Bella, “What are we up to now? Any plans?” He asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet before shoving his hands into his pockets. 

“Dunno, any ideas Bella?” Joe asked, turning the attention to her. 

She stopped observing Q for a second, finding herself confused before she snapped herself out of her stupor all in a matter of seconds, “What? Oh, I probably won’t suggest anything that you guys want to do,” Bella laughed, brushing the attention off of her for now, since she was  _ still _ thinking about what Sal told her which made her inadvertently think about Q, and since he was standing right in front of her she wasn’t sure if she wanted to be thinking about him at that moment. 

Too bad even though she was trying to stop herself from thinking about him, he had to be the next person to think up, “Nah, go ahead,” Q told her, with a small shrug. 

Bella shifted around for a second, looking away from Q as soon as he stopped talking, “Well, for the past couple of days, since we got back from Texas I’ve been thinking about going to see a show, I don’t know which one but I thought that would be fun,” She suggested, not expecting any of her friends to be onboard with the idea. 

Joe shrugged first, he didn’t look like he was too into the idea, but he didn’t outright say no to the idea, “I guess I’d be down for that,” He shrugged, “Depending on the show!” 

Murr on the other hand was actually excited, “Yes! I’ve been wanting to see A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder!” He grinned. 

Bella smirked, maybe she could at least get two of her friends to see a show with her. She was about to respond to Murray when Q spoke up again. 

“What the fuck is that Murr?” He laughed, “I mean it definitely sounds like a show that  _ you _ would watch,” He teased. 

Her smirk dropped immediately and she couldn’t even stop herself from biting back at Q, the thoughts about what Sal told her earlier dropping from her mind, “I’ve been wanting to see that too, Murr!” She said loudly, cutting off Sal and Q’s laughter, “We could see if we could get some tickets by tonight!” She grinned, “And Joe if you wanna come you can come too, it’s a comedy not some  _ girly _ musical,” She bit at Q. 

He clearly noticed her annoyance, and so did Sal, “Woah, woah, woah,” Q said, holding out his hands, “I never said I wouldn’t want to go, just when there’s a chance to make fun of Murr, you have to take it,” He grinned, shooting Bella a wink, “Let’s go get those tickets then,” He seemed to challenge her. 

Bella raised an eyebrow, “Fine, let’s go, Sal are you coming?” She asked, turning to the larger man. 

He nodded, “I guess so, since everyone else is on board,” Sal decided. 

She smiled, shooting each man a quick glance before starting towards the exit, her notebook tucked underneath her arm, “Let’s get going then!” She instructed, leaving the guys to follow after her. 

That’s how the five of them ended up at the box office of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, trying to get five tickets for the 8PM showing that night. 

“Hi,” Bella greeted, having decided that she’d just purchase all five tickets and her friends could pay her back later so they had a better chance of getting all five tickets together, “Can we have five tickets to tonight’s show?” She asked, flashing the older woman a bright smile. 

“Sure you can sweetie,” She said, typing some stuff into the computer before turning back to Bella, “Oh I’m sorry, for tonight we don’t have five seats next to each other, unless you want balcony,” The older woman told her, waiting for her answer. 

“What else do you have, maybe something in the orchestra?” She asked, hoping to get decent seats to this show, even though it was so last minute. 

The ticket woman looked back at the computer and nodded, “I’ve got three seats together and two seats, the three seats are orchestra row are Right P 2-6 and the two seats are left K seats 1 and 3, sound alright?” She asked, looking back to Bella. 

Bella glanced at the guys who didn’t seem to care all that much so she decided to make the executive decision, “Sure, that sounds perfect, thank you very much,” She decided, passing her card over to the woman and getting the tickets exchanged between the two of them. “Thank you,” Bella said again before turning back towards her friends. 

“Alright guys, I’ve got two seats together and three seats together, how do we wanna split it?” She asked, holding out the tickets to the four of them once they moved away from the box office. 

Sal spoke up first, and Bella relaxed, thinking that her and Sal were going to take the double seats, but he was thinking otherwise. “Perfect, I’m sure Joe, Murr, and I can take the triple,” He shrugged, snatching the tickets out of Bella’s hand before she could pull them away. 

“And that leaves me and you Bell,” Q grinned, reaching out and picking the second to last ticket out of her hand, smirking at her as he did so. 

She knew what Sal was doing, and she wasn’t sure if she appreciated it or not, but right now there was nothing she could do about it, she just had to go along with his plan. “What are we doing to kill time? Wanna catch some dinner?” She asked, starting to get hungry since her and Sal didn’t have the biggest lunch ever. 

The consensus was yes, they would get dinner, and soon enough they were all in a small little pizza place that Murr had found and they were all digging into their food. “Bella,” Murr perked up, “When’s the wrap party again?” He asked, furrowing his brow as he continued to eat without care. 

Bella couldn’t help but to grin at her friend, “It’s this Saturday, coming up soon,” She told him from where he sat across from her. 

Q snorted, “Better find a date soon, Murr,” He teased. 

Joe perked up too, and Sal was looking at Bella knowingly, “Hey man you’ve gotta get a date too,” Joe shot at Q, making Murr pleased that someone was actually standing up for him for once. 

“Hey don’t speak too soon, I’ve got a date already,” Q smirked nudging Bella’s leg underneath the table. 

Her face immediately lit up bright red, and should couldn’t help but feel her stomach flutter from whatever Q was doing right now, no matter how hard she tried to push that feeling away, “What?” Murr exclaimed, “Who?” 

Q nudged her leg once more, it was like he was asking her for permission to tell them, so hesitantly, she nudged him back- a little bit, but that was all the permission he needed, “Bella’s coming with me,” He grinned, going full out as he reached an arm over her shoulders to pull her into his side, forcing her to drop her pizza back down onto her plate. Now she knew her face was definitely bright red, and the flutters in her stomach came back when he started to rub her arm up and down with the hand that was around her shoulders. 

“You’re kidding,” Murr said, shooting Bella a knowing smile, after all he probably still thought there was something going on between them since the incident in the hotel, “Bella, next time hold out until I can ask you first,” He grinned, most likely trying to goad Q on. 

Bella didn’t know what to say, luckily Q was on top of it, “Nah Murr, there’s not going to be a next time, once someone goes on a date with me there’s no turning back,” He said, squeezing Bella even closer to his side. 

She felt a smile working its way onto her face, which was weird, a month ago she would’ve pushed him away from her, annoyed at him, but now she wasn’t really sure… So she just let herself sit underneath Q’s arm, picking up her pizza and taking another bite out of it, surprising everyone at the table, especially Q. 

Bella even noticed when Q and Sal shared a look before Sal stared at her, grinning, making her blush again and forcing her to hide her smile behind her slice of pizza as she kept eating. 

Conversation went back to normal soon after that, and then the five of them decided to head back to the theater, since the show was going to be starting soon and Q and Bella were sent off towards their end of the theater while their other friends went to their seats. Q excused himself rather quickly, which Bella didn’t mind since he was practically stuck to her after that event at their dinner, he didn’t leave her side, and this gave her a second to breathe, and  _ think _ . 

This was weird, the two of them not being at each other’s throats, but it was nice too, it was relaxing, despite Bella constantly having to fight to keep her blush down and the butterflies in her stomach at bay… she sounded so childish! She wasn’t a teenager anymore… she was a grown woman, what the fuck was Q doing to her? 

She didn’t have much time to think about it anymore since Q came back, carrying two overly priced beers in his hands, passing onto the Bella before he sat down, “Here, thought you might want one,” Q offered. 

Bella smiled, “Thanks Brian,” She said, accepting the beer and taking a sip. 

“So this is like a practice date huh?” Q chuckled, setting down his playbill on the ground. 

She nearly spat out her beer, but managed to keep it down, her fingers tightening around her drink, “Uh, um,” Bella let out a nervous little laugh, “I guess so,” She agreed. 

It was quiet between the two of them for a moment, before Q shifted around in his seat, pulling his phone out from his pocket, “Here, let’s take a picture before it starts,” He offered, flipping the camera around so it was on them and then he held up his playbill and grinned, “Smile,” Q said before taking several pictures of the two of them together. 

“You like taking pictures then?” She asked once he was flipping through the pictures he just took of them on his phone.

He shrugged, “Yeah, I guess it’s a hobby of mine,” Q said before turning the camera on his phone back on, “Let’s try again,” And before Bella could move closer to him to smile, he’d slipped his arm around her once more and pulled her right up next to him, so their faces were almost touching, and he snapped a couple of pictures like that before releasing her to look at them again. 

Bella’s blush was stronger than ever now, to any onlookers the two of them definitely looked like a couple! “These look much better,” Q said, showing her the pictures, “You look a little red, but I think it’s just the light,” He said, completely oblivious to the blush she still had on her face, but not oblivious to her smile, “We’re not taking anymore pictures hun, you don’t have to keep smiling like that,” He said with a small wink. 

Her eyes widened and she tried to wipe the smile, but she wasn’t able to get it to completely go away, “I… I’m just having a good time Brian,” She said, offering him another smile. 

Q looked like he was going to respond, but the lights for the show started flashing and he wasn’t able to answer, he just smiled back at her before settling in his seat and leaning back to watch the show.    


Bella's smile lasted through the entire night. Maybe this  _could_ work out after all... 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, lots of studying for finals, then I was back at my job, life got a little busy, but I'm back, hopefully finishing up this story soon! I've got ideas for the end, don't know how much chapters will be left but we're getting close! Thanks for reading :)


	15. Chapter 15

The rest of Bella’s week went by really fast, from work, to planning the wrap party, to making sure her four friends got enough attention from her, she was kept pretty busy. And on top of it all, she’d started to hang out with Q more often than not. When they were on lunch, Q often offered to buy her lunch, and one night after filming she ended up driving him home and ended up at his house to meet his cats, which turned into the two of them sitting on his couch watching a movie before Bella got too tired and had to drive home. 

Needless to say, she was having a really good time getting to know Q, and now that they were better friends, she could honestly say that she was excited to go with him to the wrap party! 

Bella was even excited to get ready for the wrap party! 

She chose a wine red off the shoulder body con dress that went down to just above her knees and had a laced up back. She wore a pair of golden heeled sandals and matching golden jewelry, a simple layered necklace and two large hoop earrings. Her hair was in a bun with several strands of hair kept loose and either hanging to frame her face or tucked behind her ears, all in all, she thought that she cleaned up rather nicely! 

Thankfully, Q wasn’t that far behind her in terms of getting ready, shortly after she grabbed her black clutch she heard a heavy knock on her door. Bella didn’t even notice the smile on her face when she ran down her stairs to open the door. 

“Hey Brian,” She greeted as she opened the door, her eyes falling on Q, who looked rather dashing. His hair was brushed back out of his face and it looked like he even got it trimmed up a little bit, he was wearing a slimming black tux that made Bella’s eyes linger for just a minute too long, and a wine red tie to match her dress, a detail she hadn’t though he would have remembered. 

Bella was so caught up in looking at her date she didn’t even noticed that she’d essentially rendered him speechless! Q couldn’t believe his eyes, she looked  _ beautiful _ ! 

After a minute of both of them staring, Q managed to snap himself out of it and he smiled at her, “Hey Bell,” He grinned, “Ready to go?”

Q escorted Bella to his jeep and helped her in the seat before jogging around to his side of his car and letting himself inside. Throughout the ride, the two of them fell into easy conversation and soon enough, Q was pulling into the parking lot behind the building. 

“Here we are, let’s get this show on the road,” Q said, once more taking Bella’s arm as the two of them walked into the building. They were greeted with several coworkers, but the party still hadn’t officially started yet so Bella hadn’t expected everyone to be there yet anyways. She left Q with their coworkers while she double checked that everything was under wraps and that they had everything that was ordered for the evening, which they did, before trying to find Q again. 

She found him with Joe and Bessy, who looked like they just arrived at the party as they were setting down their coats and Bessy her bag. “Hey guys,” Bella greeted, running over to her friends and greeting them both with a hug before gravitating back to Q’s side, “How are you?” She asked, the question more directed at Bessy, since the two women didn’t get to see each other as often. 

Bessy and Bella fell into easy conversation, Q offering to go get them some drinks, while Joe followed, most likely to get himself his own non alcoholic drink. “So,” Bessy grinned once the men left them by themselves, “You and Brian?” 

Bella felt a slight blush come to her cheeks, “What about me and Brian?” She asked, hoping that they could change the conversation sooner rather than later. 

The younger woman rolled her eyes, “That’s my question, is there anything about you two? Joey told me you guys have been getting along really well… and now you’re here together, so?” She asked again, really trying to get an answer out of Bella. 

Thankfully, Bella was saved by her date, Q and Joe came back to the pair, Joe carrying a drink for Bessy, and Q carrying a cosmo for Bella. “Thank you,” Bella grinned taking a sip of the fruity drink. 

The four of them quickly found their table and Bella sat down her drink, deciding that she’d go mingle a little bit more before the party actually started, she didn’t even realize that Q had followed her until she was about to speak to Casey and she felt a hand move to rest on her waist. 

Bella didn’t even have to look to know it was Q behind her, and not looking helped her keep her from blushing, thankfully, as she greeted Casey who was with a woman she’d never met before, “Hey Casey,” Bella greeted, wanting to move in for a hug, but since she didn't know who the woman was she decided to keep her distance respectfully. 

Thankfully, Casey spoke up next, moving in to hug both Bella and Q, “Hey guys, Q you remember Lisa right?” He asked, moving backwards to wrap an arm around her midsection. 

Q nodded and stepped forward to shake Lisa’s hand, “Nice to see you again,” He said, grinning before he pulled Bella forward with an arm around her shoulders, “This is Bella, my date for the evening and our show’s production manager,” He introduced so Bella could shake hands with Casey’s date. 

“It’s nice to meet you,” Bella smiled, eagerly shaking the other woman’s hand. 

“And you,” Lisa said politely before bringing her hand back to her side. 

Before the four of them could talk and longer Bella heard a familiar voice call her name and before she could turn around to see who was calling her she was pulled into a warm embrace and spun around once before being set back on her feet, laughing when she realized it was Sal that had just attacked her. 

“Look at you,” He grinned, clearly checking her out, “You look amazing!”

She couldn’t help but to laugh in response to her friend as he all but lifted her up off the ground in his tight embrace. Once he let go of her she was able to get a good look at him too, dressed up nicely in blue and his glasses topping off his appearance, “It’s nothing compared to you,” Bella teased, shooting a wink his way. 

“Please,” He muttered, flushing slightly, “I’m almost jealous of Quinn,” Sal said, since Q had joined the two of them now. 

Before Bella knew what was happening, Q’s arm was slung around her shoulder and she was pulled into his side, “You should be jealous, I got the best looking date here,” He boasted, squeezing Bella’s shoulder as he said so. 

Now it was her turn to flush, and she was thankful her foundation worked wonders and would hide her blush regardless, but when Sal’s eyes shot to hers she knew he knew that she was nearly gushing. 

Bella knew whatever she said next would somehow embarrass herself, but thankfully, in the next second she noticed that people were starting to take their seats, most likely to start eating soon and watch the season finale, which saved her from the awkward situation. “Oh look,” She pointed out, slipping out of Q’s hold, but letting their hands linger next to each other, “We should grab our seats,” Before either man could say anything, Bella latched her hand around Q’s and started to pull him towards the table for the four stars and their dates, choosing upon arrival where her and Q were sitting. 

Shortly after the two of them were sitting down they were joined by Joe and Bessy who quickly started to talk with the two of them. Murr came next with his date, a tall, blond woman who Bella recognized from a few pictures he’d shown her over the past couple of days, he looked rather nice too dressed up in a nice suit and glasses. And finally Sal sat down at their table, joined by a shorter woman with brown hair and green eyes. 

Once they were all seated, they were quick to fall into conversation with one another, and Bella was more than happy to be sitting between Q and Murr, finding it much easier to talk to them than the other women she was meeting. Soon enough, they were invited to grab their food from the buffet and the night had officially started. The party was very fun and the conversation came very easy among the four couples at the table. And all too quickly, the night was coming to an end as the party people watched the final episode of the season and a couple of funny outtakes of the guys and a few crew members too. 

“Hey Bell,” Q said, nudging her in the side as the episode came to a close, “Do you wanna head out maybe, we’ll take the long route home,” He said with a wink. 

She laughed, already grabbing her coat, even though she didn’t want the night to end she wasn’t about to ditch Q, “Sure thing, let’s just say our goodbyes,” She told him. 

The two of them turned to the other members at their table and told them goodbye before they scurried out the backdoor, climbing into Q’s jeep. He was true to his word and as he took the longest route back to her house he possibly could, the two of them laughing and joking with one another as they listened to some light rock music. 

When Q finally pulled into her parking lot he froze up, “Hey Bell, can I talk to you for a second, for real?” He asked, grabbing her hand before she could pick up her purse. 

“Sure, what’s up Q?” She asked, him having convinced her to call him Q at some point in the night, she couldn’t remember when that came about. 

He scratched at his head with his free hand, brushing his loose hair out of his face, “Well, this is a little unlike me, but uh- you know back in high school how we didn’t get along too well? Well, I had a thing for you then, and it really sucked, cause I was a dick,” He said with a laugh. 

Bella licked her lips, feeling a little awkward, they were having such a good night and she didn’t want to talk about their time as teenagers when she hated him, “Yeah, yeah, I remember,” She muttered. 

Q nodded and shook his head, “Well, uh, I’m sorry for that, I don’t think I ever really got to tell you that… The thing is, I’d like to make it up to you, maybe let me take you out? On a real date, not to a social thing, just me and you... “ He trailed off, his cheeks turning bright red as he confessed. 

Her cheeks turned red to match his too and she couldn’t help but let a small smile come to her face, “Listen Q,” She began, “I would’ve flat out said no about a month ago if you asked me this, but I think you’re a really great guy, and I had a lot of fun with you tonight,” Bella smiled, gripping Q’s hand tighter so he couldn’t pull away from him, “And I think that we should give it a chance.” 

Q finally met her gaze again and after a moment of confusion passed over his face, he grinned back at her, “Really, that’s- that’s great! I’ll call you, or something, but wow, okay, it’ll be really fun Bell, I promise!” He grinned, “Lemme walk you in!” 

They both climbed out of the car and walked to Bella’s front door arm in arm before stopping at her front porch, “This has been fun Brian, I’m actually excited for our next date,” She smiled, slyly. 

He shoved his hands into his pockets, “Yeah it has been fun, I will definitely let you know as soon as possible what I come up with,” Q laughed, “Well goodnight, I’ll text you?” He asked. 

Bella nodded, “Yeah, text you in the morning,” She smiled, and before he could pull away into his car, she grabbed him by his american flag scarf and pulled him up next to her to press a soft kiss on his lips, to which he responded more than eagerly, “Goodnight,” She smiled, and before he could respond, she let herself in her house, closing the door behind her. 

Maybe they could make this work… and she was more than excited to figure out if they could! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, thanks for commenting and reading this story, I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to bring this story to an end, but I wanted to finish it off, give it some closure even if it isn't the best ending, but it just felt like it was a good time to end it. Thanks for reading!


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